When Old is New
by simply woven
Summary: AU...Kerry's in Chicago, Abby's in Boston, and their sons are 14 and 12* respectively. *not canon, but neither is Kerby, so that shouldn't much matter...
1. Chapter 1

"Henry Gonzalo Lopez Weaver!" Those four names, compacted into a single smooth one, were called across the ER, halting the fourteen year old in his tracks. He remained facing away from his mother even as she spoke again. "You will not walk away from me while I am talking to you." She said, her voice just as stern as before but her volume much lower.

Henry turned around slowly, his shoulders hanging low and his head titled down. Even despite his slouched position, he still stood a good two and a half inches taller than his mother. "I'm sorry…" he muttered, his thick brown hair shielding Kerry from a clear view of his eyes.

Kerry, with a hand on her hip and pursed lips, let her head tilt to the side. "I didn't hear you, Henry."

She could have sworn she heard Henry's eyes brown eyes roll in their sockets. He huffed slightly then spoke louder, his eyes meeting Kerry's green ones, "I said I'm sorry."

Kerry's head went back to a vertical position and she nodded. "I'll be home in an hour, an hour and a half at most…" she said as she handed Henry a transit pass for the El, "just please, Henry, be-"

Henry cut her off, taking the credit card-like pass and finishing her phrase. "Safe. I know, Mom. I'll see you later." He said, heading back out towards the ambulance bay.

Kerry watched him go then, when he was well through the doors, rubbed her eyes. She heard someone's attempt at a concealed laugh-turned-snort from behind and turned. She wasn't surprised to find Randi wearing an amused look. Kerry's left eyebrow arched questioningly. "Do you have kids, Randi?" She asked in all seriousness.

A blank stare then an answer. "Uh, no, doc. No way." The brunette replied, snapping her gum.

Kerry nodded shortly, grabbing a chart. "Right, so no sneering."

Kerry could feel Randi's entertained eyes burning an hole in her back as she headed towards curtain three, with Mr. Herd's, who was complaining of some form of pain in every limb and organ under the sun, chart in hand.

An hour later, after assuring him that she would not be feeding his addiction but, by code of conduct, ordering a handful of tests, Kerry was signing off on a few lasts charts and passing over a few more to Morris. Just as she was heading home, her cell phone rang. Her first instinct was that it was Henry, calling to ask her when she'd be home or what was for dinner, but when she didn't recognize the number to be their home or his cell phone, she was hesitant to answer. Nevertheless, she did. "Hello?"

There was a short silence before a familiar voice spoke. "Kerry?" a short cough, a clearing of the throat perhaps, "It's Abby."

A natural smile formed across Kerry's lips and she adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder, heading for the parking lot. "Long time, no talk." Kerry noted lightheartedly. "What's up?"

"At the moment? Or in the past…oh, six months since we've talked?" Abby asked.

Kerry laughed shortly. "At the moment, Abs."

"Oh, well, you know…leaving the lawyer's office to pick Joe up from his friend's house, bringing him home to cook dinner, then make sure he gets to bed before I collapse in bed as well." Abby  
explained, sounding stressed out and flustered.

The corner of Kerry's lips turned downwards in a frown. "The ups and downs of motherhood?" She offered.

"The ups and downs of single motherhood." Abby corrected.

Kerry's free hand found her eyes and she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "What happened?" She asked, though she was pretty sure a few of the theories she had in her head could possibly fit the bill.

"Can I give you the whole story in about…three days?" Abby asked. "Joe and I are coming back for…well, for a while…because it's summer and all."

Kerry opened her car door and set her purse on the roof, standing in the nook that the open door and the actual car made. "Is everything okay, Abby?"

Kerry could hear Abby sigh on the other end. "I…I don't know, Kerry…can we meet up when we get back?"

"Of course…" Kerry replied, "Where are you and Joe staying?" She asked, tracing her fingertip across the silver roof of her car.

"A hotel…The Talbott or something…"

Kerry shook her head, knowing very well that Abby couldn't see, but making the movement nevertheless. "You can stay with Henry and I…" Kerry offered, "We have a spare room and Joe can stay with Henry…"

"No, Kerry, that would be an imposition-" She tried to argue but Kerry cut her off.

"It's not an imposition, Abigail; If it was, I wouldn't have offered." She said, her tone firm but her volume soft.

Again, Kerry heard Abby huff. "But Kerr-"

Kerry was a step ahead. "It's fine, Abby…and, to pay me back, you can cook dinner when I'm working." She said, smiling in hopes to send her attempt at humor through the phone.

It worked; Kerry could hear a small chuckle escape Abby's throat as she replied. "Alright…fair enough."

Kerry nodded. "Good."

And so the pair went on to make plans for Kerry and Henry to pick Abby and Joe up on Thursday morning at O'Hare then hung up, Kerry nearing home and Abby finally arriving at Joe's friend's house  
despite the rush hour traffic so common for the outskirts of Boston at the hour.

When Kerry got home she found Henry lying on his back on the couch, a book extended over his head and his eyes focused intently. "Your mother would be quite disappointed in you." She said with a smile as she shut the door behind her.

Henry jumped, a bit startled, the grinned and set the book down on the coffee table, spinning around and sitting upright. "I know…should be down at the park with Miguel's kids or somethin'." He kept the ongoing joke alive, reciting what Kerry had told him so many times about his other mother.

Kerry chuckled. "Or at least watching TV." She dropped her bag on the chair near the door and headed for the kitchen.

Henry was on her heals, though a few feet back, as he spoke. "Listen, Mom…I'm, I'm sorry about earlier…in the ER." He ran a hand through his messy hair. "It was really immature." Kerry stopped in her tracks and turned around, eyeing her son, who had mysteriously matured about five years since their confrontation in the ER, suspiciously. Henry shrugged his shoulders. "What? Am I not allowed to apologize, either?" And, in an instant, the maturity level was back down.

Kerry mimicked his motion subconsciously, tousling her own hair with her left hand. "And here I was just about to commend your maturity." She said, shaking her hair back into place.

Henry fumed slightly but took a deep breath, holding it for a ten count as Kerry had taught him back in the days of tantrums. "I'm sorry, mom…I just- I'm sorry, okay?"

Kerry nodded even though she caught on to a slight falter in Henry's voice, as if he were scared or confused. She let it go, deciding to give her already-on edge son time to confront her if need be. "Okay, Hen. I'm sorry as well." She said, turning back towards the kitchen and pulling out various ingredients from the fridge. "I got a call from Abby today…"

Henry took a seat at the kitchen island, the tips of his toes touching the floor even though he was completely seated. "Abby…as in Abby and Luka?" He asked.

Kerry didn't linger on the 'and Luka' part. "Yes, Abby Lockhart…she and Joe are coming for a visit."

Henry didn't miss a beat. "What about Luka?" He asked, vaguely remembering the tall Croat.

Kerry shook her head. "He and Abby are either in the midst of getting, or have already gotten, a divorce."

"Oh…" Henry replied, not quite sure what to think about that. "Where are they staying?"

Without putting down the ingredients she had in her hands or turning to face her son, Kerry replied. "Here."

That generated an annoyed grown from Henry. "Mom..." he whined.

Kerry spun around, her eyes staring straight into his. "Henry Weaver, Abby is one of the best friends I've had..." she began warningly.

Henry shook his head. "Joe's, like, what? Seven?" His annoyance was more so with the fact that he would probably have to share a room with Joe than it was that he and his mother were visiting.

Kerry shook her head once. "He's twelve."

Henry seemed to consider it a moment before he rolled his eyes. "And he's probably annoying as heck…" he mumbled.

Kerry shot him another look. "You haven't seen Joe since they visited when you were seven, Henry; for all you know, he could be just like you." She argued.

Henry snorted a laugh. "Great…I'm sure that'll work out well." His voice was thick with sarcasm.

"Well, you'll just have to put up with it, bud." She said, turning back to the counter and continuing to prepare dinner. "Dinner will be ready in a half hour." She said over her shoulder.

Henry sighed and stalked off, taking his book from the coffee table then walking back through the kitchen and into the backyard. Kerry watched him go, noticing for what must have been the thousandth time how his head hung at the same angle as Sandy's had when she was upset. She shook her head, letting out a tiny breath; it had been fourteen years since her death just four months earlier and, no matter how many years kept going by, it hardly got any easier. She pushed through the feelings, willing herself to push it to the back of her mind, and went on chopping the carrot she held on the cutting board in front of her.

After dinner, Kerry sat in the living room with a book in hand while Henry clicked away on his computer, his fingers moving ferociously across the keyboard in a pattern; every few seconds, forty or so, he would type for another thirty seconds, wait, smile or laugh or smirk, then the process would start again. Finally, when Kerry could no longer ignore it, even through the soft sounds of Queen's 'Evolution' coming through the surround sound, she placed her book on her lap and took off her glasses, folding them in her hand. "You look much happier than earlier." She noted.

Henry looked up from his computer screen and shrugged. "I am." He offered.

Kerry raised an eyebrow. "Can I ask why?"

"You can." He looked up again. "But I'm not going to answer." He said, closing his laptop and heading into the kitchen. "I'll be on the porch."

Kerry watched and her jaw dropped, as her son completely dismissed her. She was about to call him back in, demand him to explain his bad attitude, but let it go, knowing in the back of her mind that, if he wanted to tell her, he probably would in his own time.

So, instead, Kerry picked her book back up and shut it, saving her place with the page clip, and set her reading glasses on the table beside her. She left her seat and headed to the back door. She stuck her head out slightly, only able to see Henry's face and chest which were illuminated by the glow of his computer, and spoke. "I'm heading up to bed…I'm not on until noon tomorrow, so I'll see you in the morning…" she said.

Henry glanced up and nodded shortly. "Night."

Kerry, refusing to go to bed in a mood that was anything besides, at the least, content, spoke once more. "Love you, Hen."

Henry looked up, his eyes softer than before, and smiled faintly. "Love you too, Mom."

Kerry nodded and back through the doorway, pulling the screen door shut and heading up to bed. She mulled over Henry's various moods and attitudes of that evening and night, attempting to analyze them on a bit of a psychological level. With no luck, she settled on taking a long bath before she fell into bed, the exhaustion of the day finally hitting her. As her eyelids fell heavy, a small, but strong, surge of excitement coursed through her when she remembered that, for the first time in much too long, she'd be seeing Abby in just a short four days. After that, Kerry fell asleep with a soft smile on her face, even despite her multiple miniature fallouts with Henry.

* * *

**A/N: **I've actually got a bit of a loose plot in my head with this one which is something that I've never really done before, so it should be interesting to see how this works out. And a note to those of you who have been so dedicated to And Baby Makes Four: First of all, thank you so much for sticking with me! I love hearing from each and every one of you; it's a fantastic feeling I get whenever I see that my hits have grown and I have a new review! So I thank you for that. However, I'm on a bit of a haitus from that, but I do promise that I will continue it another point...I promise! Thanks for reading a please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Henry switched through multiple songs on his iPod before finally settling on something, One Day by Matisyahu, that he was content with. Just as the chorus came around, however, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned in his seat and faced Kerry, who was seated at the wheel. He held up his index finger in a 'wait a minute' gesture and paused the song, pulling his ear buds out as he did so. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

Kerry smirked slightly. "I was just saying that I know you aren't especially excited about Abby and Joe's visit, but please don't judge him until you talk to him, Henry…" she said, ending her phrase with a quick glance at her son. "Can you do that for me?"

Henry nodded slowly. "Sure, Mom…whatever you want." His voice had an icy, almost condescending, layer on top.

Kerry sighed inwardly, ignoring her son's attitude. They pulled into the parking lot of O'Hare and, thanks to the seemingly slow day, got a spot in the parking lot closest to their entrance. Kerry slid out of the car but frowned when Henry didn't follow. "You're not waiting out here." She stated warningly.

Henry sighed and rolled his eyes, pushing open his door and stepping out of the car. With his ear buds still in, he followed ten paces behind his mother.

Standing in front of the flight arrival and departure board, Kerry looked at it through squinted eyes, attempting to read the evidently-too-small digital words. She had just found Abby's flight, a direct from Logan Airport in Boston, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around, expecting it to be someone asking her for information about a flight or where they could find the restroom, and was pleasantly surprised when she was greeted by a familiar face. Kerry grinned and wrapped her arms around Abby.

The embrace was mutual between the two women and Abby laughed over Kerry's shoulder. "Are you getting old or something? I saw you squinting at that board…" she teased.

Kerry laughed and took a step back, her hands still resting on either of Abby's shoulders. "I thought you weren't supposed to get in until quarter past?" She questioned, dropped her hands to her sides.

Abby shrugged. "That's what I thought, too." Her eyes looked past Kerry, settling on Henry who stood a few feet behind. "You're taller than your mom, Henry." She said, smiling at the teenager.

Henry gave a weak, though genuine smile. "It doesn't take much." He replied.

Abby chuckled while Kerry glanced over her shoulder, giving him a faux-offended look while, on the inside, she was thrilled he was actually smiling. At the thought of Henry, she redirected her attention back towards Abby and her eyes dropped slightly. "And you'll be about as tall as your mom by the time summer is over, won't you?" She asked, smiling at Joe.

Through the mousy brown locks that covered his eyes he nodded, a small smile coming to his lips. Kerry grinned at the younger boy and straightened back up, "Baggage claim?" She asked, directing the group to the right towards the clusters of conveyor belts.

After spotting and grabbing Abby and Joe's bags and exiting the airport, Henry situated their few suitcases in the back before joining Joe in the back seat. Kerry glanced back at them in the rearview mirror, "All set?"

Henry and Joe both nodded as they buckled their seatbelts and, after Kerry took a quick look at Abby, they pulled out of the airport parking lot and headed out on the highway.

The two boys talked minimally for the first half of the ride; Henry focused his attention out the window while Joe stole quick glances at the older boy, trying to figure him out. The two women, however, were occupying the other end of the conversational spectrum.

Abby shook her head, holding her hand out, in confusion. "Wait, wait, wait…so Banfield went to Haiti and didn't come back? Do you mean she…did she die?"

Kerry chuckled and shook her head. "No, no...Yes, she did go down after the earthquake, and no, she didn't die; when she came back she just up and quit, I guess."

Abby shook her head. "That makes no sense…" she mused.

Kerry laughed. "I don't know, Abby, I wasn't here."

"Right…" Abby said as she glanced out the window. Without looking at Kerry, she spoke again. "Have you heard from Carter?"

Kerry nodded. "Just the other day, actually…he, Kem, and Adelie stopped in before they headed to France."

Abby ran her left hand through her hair. "How old is she now?" She asked of Kem and John's daughter.

"I think she'll be seven in July." Kerry answered. "She looks just like John." Abby snorted a laugh, receiving a sharp look from Kerry. "I meant that as a positive thing, Abby."

Abby's head tilted forward and, as a result from the hair that fell in front of her eyes, she ran her hand through it again. "Right…she's seven already? I feel old."

Kerry throated a short laugh and was about to speak when Henry's voice cut through. "You aren't older than my mom, are you?" He asked, sounding equally as surprised as he did curious.

Abby laughed out loud at that one, sending Joe and Henry into small little laughing fests as well. Kerry smiled, as well, glancing at her son in the rearview mirror. "Very funny, Henry…and no, she's not."

Abby flashed Kerry a smile then spoke up, turning around in her seat. "Not quite, but almost." she said then turned her head to face Kerry while her body still faced Henry. "I'm, what? Three years younger than you?"

Kerry raised an eyebrow. "You just want to get how old I am out of me." She teased. "Which is too bad, because I can't seem to remember."

Again, Henry spoke up. "You're fifty three, mom." He reminded, knowing very well she was joking but not caring either way.

For the first time for nearly the entire car ride, Joe spoke up. "So you're four years younger, Mom." He said nearly as soon as Henry's words had left his lips.

Kerry turned towards Abby for a second and smirked. "I think they're turning on us."

Abby chuckled. "Apparently."

The joking and conversation continued for about ten more minutes, right up until the moment Kerry pulled the car into the driveway of her and Henry's house. The four made quick work of pulling Abby and Joe's bags out of the trunk and then entered the house. Kerry directed Henry to show Joe the room, Henry's, that they'd be sharing for the coming week or so as Kerry brought Abby up to the guest room. "Right, so this is it…" she said, standing on the inside of the doorway. "There are towels in the closet," she motioned towards the oak door, "and the bathroom is the first door on your left in the hall." She said to Abby's back.

Abby turned around a smiled slightly, her eyes, as always, showing more emotion than her mouth. "Thank you, Kerry."

Kerry nodded. "I have a shift at noon, but I'm only covering for Archie, so I should be home by six."

Abby's eyes lit up and her eyebrows lifted slightly. "Do you?" She asked.

Kerry smiled knowingly, "You wouldn't happen to want to tag along, would you?" She teased.

Abby chuckled slightly then frowned. "What about the boys?"

Kerry waved a hand, a gesture that universally symbolized the brushing off of something, "They can stay here…it'll only be a few hours, anyway." Abby considered it for only a moment before she nodded in agreement. "Alright, then I'll go tell Henry…make sure he knows not to burn the house down." Kerry joked, leaving Abby in the guest room alone.

Abby shifted on light feet, hoping to make little noise, and wandered over to the burrow. On top of the wooden dresser stood unorganized, though neatly placed, picture frames. She looked through them, daring not to touch the delicate-looking frames, and picked out a few familiar faces: as expected, there were a couple of shots of Sandy, a few more of Henry, and a few that contained Kerry: one she recognized to be from 2006 or so, and another she knew to be from Kerry's stay in Miami. There was another, however, that she didn't recognize in the least; there was Kerry, a nine or ten year old Henry, and a blonde woman who stood just about a half inch taller than Kerry; Abby had never seen the woman in her life. Walking away, her curiosity not subsided but knowing it wasn't quite the time to ask, Abby left the room, headed down the hall and knocked on the door she assumed to be Kerry's for a reason unknown to her. There was no vocal response, but the door opened and Abby took a step in. In front of her, Kerry was buttoning the button buttons of her pink blouse over her camisole. "I like that color on you."

Kerry raised an eyebrow but dismissed Abby's comment as strictly platonic. "Thanks…" she replied, before turning around. "What's going on, Abby?"

The brunette played dumb, trying her hardest to avoid the subject she knew Kerry was attempting to broach. "Well, I guess you could say I'm watching you get dressed…" she leaned against the wall.

Kerry rolled her eyes. "What happened in Boston?"

"Who's the woman in the picture?" Abby shot back, a surge of defensiveness washing over her. She thought Kerry would refuse to answer, probably get angry, and ignore her, and was surprised when she smiled.

"Her name's Jodi Lerner…she's a good friend of mine." She answered easily, smoothing out her collar.

Abby's head tilted to the side. "Good friend?" She asked, skeptical at the choice of adjective.

Kerry chuckled. "Yes, she's an artist…we met years and years and years ago."

Abby shook her head. "Just a good friend?"

Kerry raised an eyebrow. "We dated for a while…but we're much better as friends." She replied then questioned Abby herself. "Why do you care so much, Abby?"

Abby was speechless, caught off guard; why did she care so much, she asked herself. "Uh…I, uh, I don't know." She said, before changing subject to answer Kerry's original question. "I left Luka. Well, we left each other. Eight months ago."

Abby's strategic move worked; Kerry had stopped getting ready and was now standing still, facing Abby with her hand frozen on the finicky collar of her blouse. "What happened?"

"What didn't happen…work, life, trying to seperate the two…mainly shit." Abby explained, her tone emotionless and even. "It was all pretty civil."

Kerry nodded and went back to getting ready. "What about Joe?"

Abby rocked back on her heels. "I have full custody."

With her back shielding Abby's view, Kerry raised an eyebrow. "Was that his choice?"

"It was mutual."

Kerry nodded shortly. She knew Abby wasn't telling her all the details, but she figured that, in time, Abby would give up a few; slowly and gradually, Kerry knew, she would piece together the story. She wasn't about to push Abby, so made an offering. "Do you want this on the down low?"

Abby let out a small sigh of relief. "Please."

Kerry smiled weakly and wrapped Abby in another hug. "I'm glad you're back, Abby." She spoke into the brunette's neck.

Abby was at ease in Kerry's arms and, for a woman who generally found physical contact awkward and uncomfortable, she enjoyed having Kerry wrapped around her; she cherished the soft sound of Kerry's voice in her ear, and the hot breath coming from her mouth tantalized her sweetly. Her heart was beating uncontrollably fast while her thoughts were moving a mile a minute, but, on the outside, everything felt like slow motion; Abby felt as if she could stay in Kerry's arms, just like that, forever. Without thinking, her sub-conscience taking over, Abby's head turned and her lips met Kerry's in a silent, loving caress. When the realization at what she was doing hit her, though, she didn't desist.

Neither did Kerry. Her arms moved from Abby's back to her waist and lower while her mouth continued to meet Abby's every challenge. She felt Abby's hands move up, past her shoulders, and to her head, gripping the back of her skull firmly and pulling her head towards her own. It felt right, having the electricity and warmth of Abby's body being transferred into her own, but she knew it was wrong. All of a sudden, very flustered, Kerry took a hasty step back, painstakingly wrenching her body away from Abby's.

A shaky hand of Abby's shielded her brown eyes, her head tilted downwards and her free arm crossed at her abdomen. "I…Kerry, I…" her words, mirroring her thoughts, were tattered.

Kerry turned her back to Abby, her hand coming to her lips. "I'm sorry Abby…that shouldn't have…I shouldn't have…" She hadn't initiated this kiss herself, but in Kerry's mind, she very well could, and should, have stopped it.

Abby shook her head to no one in particular. "No, no, Kerry…that was…" amazing, perfect, wonderful, sexy, right, and what I want were the adjectives that came to mind, but Abby dare not voice them. "Jesus Christ…I'm sorry…uh, I'm just going to…" she pointed towards the door, though Kerry's back was still turned. "Just let me know when we have to leave." With that, she left Kerry to her bewilderment.

No more than ten minutes had passed when Kerry came down the stairs, a look on her face that told Abby she was going to push everything that had happened just a few short minutes ago to the back of her mind.

With green eyes she glanced at Abby, who was sitting on the arm of the sofa, and raised a soft eyebrow. "You ready?"

Abby nodded silently and pushed herself off of the couch, joining and following Kerry out the door. They climbed back into Kerry's car and headed to County. The ride was silent, awkwardly so for the both of them, until Abby conjured up the courage to speak. "I haven't been back here in…" she did the math in her head, "nine years."

Kerry nodded and chuckled, veering a left towards that parking garage. "Nothing much has changed." She said. "Hell, the glass board is still there."

Kerry's relaxation but Abby at ease. "And Sam is still there?"

"Yep…she and Tony got married about two years ago." She replied, eyes focused straight ahead as she pulled into a spot and put the car in park, turning it off.

Abby raised an eyebrow. "Really?" How she didn't know this, she wasn't sure.

Kerry nodded. "Their relationship is one that's hard to joke about." She smiled, poking a bit of fun at the complications the pair had shared over the years. "Have you talked to Neela and Ray? How are they doing?" Kerry asked as she climbed out of the car, cueing Abby to do the same.

"Just the other day…they're good…Oliver and Malaya are already starting school…" she said, shaking her head slowly; she'd never imagined Neela and Ray would actually get married, never mind have kids, or twins, for that matter.

Kerry laughed. "Looks like the only one who's childless out of your group is Morris." She stated, walking towards the hospital.

Abby smirked. "Well…unless you want to count his sperm children."

"Touché." Kerry replied, shooting Abby a smile. Abby smiled back, but Kerry's eyes brought back the awkwardness from the day's earlier events. Stopping in her tracks, Abby grabbed hold of Kerry's elbow, stopping her as well. Kerry spun around, startled. "Abby, wha-"

Abby cut her off. "I just wanted to...about earlier…" She dropped her hand from Kerry's arm.

Kerry nodded knowingly. "Abby…I...I'm sorry we didn't talk earlier. How about tonight? After dinner?"

Abby's eyes widened; what, she wondered, was Kerry asking her to do. "Wha-"

Kerry rolled her eyes and made a 'tsk' sound with her tongue. "Mind out of the gutter, Abigail…let's talk about this tonight. That's what I meant."

Abby sighed, partially relieved. "Oh, right…Okay." She said, continuing towards the ER.

Upon entering the familiar ER, Abby was bombarded with 'hello's' and hugs and questions and smiles; she found a handful of familiar faces, but those who she didn't recognized outweighed those she did. Archie was there, just on his way out as Kerry was taking over for him, as well as Tony, who was now a senior attending, and Randi, who Abby hadn't seen since what had to be 2003. In addition to her fellow doctors, Abby was able to reacquaint with Malik and Chuny during Kerry's shift.

As a small trauma rolled in, about three quarters of the way through Kerry's shift, Randi decided to broach a topic that had been wracking her mind since she saw Abby and Kerry walk in together. "So…you and Weaver?" She asked, snapping her gum.

Abby's eyes remained focused on the desk's surface and she prayed her cheeks weren't flushing as red as they felt. "What about us?" She asked, hoping her tone was even enough to offset any presumptions; how the hell would Randi know anything, anyway, she asked herself.

Randi snorted. "You're friends. That's weird."

Abby let out a silent, unnoticeable sigh of relief. "You missed a lot, Randi." Abby said before turning to face the clerk. "Where were you, anyway? I mean, one day you were here, then you left…when did you come back?"

Randi blew a bubble and popped it loudly. "New York." She said bluntly. "And last year." Abby nodded, not venturing any deeper into the topic. Randi was silent, too, but only for a moment. "So, you and Weaver. You're friends?"

Abby nodded and confirmed. "We are."

Randi snorted. "How'd that happen?"

Abby ran a hand through her hair. "Henry was sick, I was working in the NICU; Sandy died, I was here; Kerry had her hip replaced, I was Henry's legal guardian." She said, thinking about how their relationship had grown from employer/employee to being friends over the nineteen years they'd known each other. What she didn't mention, however, was how she had always admired Kerry; her strength, her power, her focus and her compassion. Abby also failed to mention that she was also a big fan of the redhead's soft, though healthy, figure.

Randi snorted, a smirk spread across her lips. "So what has she done for you?"

Abby was snapped out of her thinking. "What?"

Randi spoke as if she was talking to a slow child. "I asked you what she's done for you…your so-called friendship sounds all give with no take on your part, Lockhart."

Abby rolled her eyes. "Why am I even explaining this to you, Randi?" She asked, attempting to change the subject so she wouldn't let her newfound, less-than-platonic, super confusing feelings for Kerry loose. She walked away before Randi had a chance to respond, her eyes set on the redhead she could see moving within trauma one.

Two and a half hours later, when Chaz arrived, Kerry and Abby left the ER, with Kerry assuring Randi she'd see her on Monday with a wink and Abby promising to stop back by sometime. They headed back for the parking garage, the sun hanging only slightly lower in the sky than earlier. It had cooled down considerably, Abby noted absentmindedly, as if she were trying to make small talk with herself to keep the awkwardness at bay. She chuckled to herself at the thought, earning a questioning look from Kerry. Abby smiled and shook her head, "I was…I was just thinking."

Kerry raised an eyebrow. "Thinking's good." She unlocked the car and slid into the driver's seat as Abby sat down to her right.

Abby only nodded in response and they drove home in silence, albeit Kerry's scattered curses towards rush hour traffic and its driver's who, apparently, wanted nothing to do with turn signals. When they got home and noted that everything was in one piece, Kerry agreed on calling out for pizza at the boys' request and Abby's agreement. Once the pizza arrived, the four sat around the kitchen table, talking comfortably.

"So you're going to be a…freshman?" Abby questioned, hoping she did her math right. Henry nodded, his mouth occupied by a bite of pepperoni pizza. Abby nodded slowly. "Have you registered for your classes next year?"

Henry took a sip of his Sprite and swallowed. "Yeah…honor's biology, geometry, and English, Spanish II, European History, phys ed. and health, AP psychology, and American Sign Language I." he stated easily before taking another bite of his pizza.

Abby had to make sure her jaw hadn't dropped and she glanced at Kerry, who was glancing at something on the table. She looked back at Henry and smiled, "You're smart like your mom." She said, sipping her ice tea.

The corners of Henry's mouth tipped upwards ever so slightly and Kerry spoke up. "He's pretty smart, that's for sure." She agreed, tipping her head slightly towards her son. She then glanced at Joe. "Are you excited to start seventh grade?" She asked.

Joe nodded. "Yep, but I'm starting a new school...and they don't even have a middle school soccer team!" He explained exasperatedly.

Kerry nodded and chuckled. "That's too bad...but you said you play soccer?" The twelve year old nodded. "Henry plays soccer, too…" she said, hoping to find another thread that could connect the two boys.

Henry intervened. "Yeah, we kicked the ball around while you guys were gone…" he said, then smiled at Joe, "He's pretty good."

Kerry smiled, proud of her son's renewed maturity and friendliness; that was the Henry she had raised. The group finished their pizza, the two boys mostly talking about the multiple other sports they played and the major and professional league teams they liked- while Joe was a fan of anything and everything Boston, Henry was all for the Cubs, Bulls, Blackhawks, Bears, and Fire-, while the two mothers just enjoyed listening in. Once the pizza box was empty and all four were full, Henry and Joe headed upstairs to play some video game or another while Kerry washed what few dishes there were, Abby silently volunteering to dry them.

When the last dish was put away, Kerry headed for the fridge and pulled out a bottle of wine. "Do you want some?" She asked, clearly not thinking thoroughly.

Abby shook her head. "Um…no thanks." She said, her tone giving away Kerry's mistake.

Kerry's hand flew to her forehead. "Sorry, Abby…I really wasn't thinking…"

Abby shook her head, her hands waving slightly in tandem. "No, no, it's alright." She reassured as Kerry poured herself a glass of red wine. The older woman slid the bottle back into the fridge and brought the glass to her mouth, taking a sip. Abby rocked on her heels and pointed to the screen door. "Do you want to…talk about. Uh, outside?"

Kerry nodded, catching on right away, and followed Abby to the door and onto the deck. They claimed seats next to each other on the wicker loveseat, Abby turning slightly and tucking her left leg underneath her while Kerry turned in her seat as well, crossing her right leg over her left. There was silent, for a moment, though their eyes genuinely spoke millions of words. However, neither of them had the skill to read such a foreign language, so Kerry spoke up. "What happened earlier, Abby?"

Abby twiddled her fingers, twisting the silver band she'd received from her mother when she was a teenager around her pointer finger. "I kissed you." She looked up at Kerry, eyes searching desperately.

Kerry moved her hand in small circles, her wine swishing around in little waves. "And I kissed you back." Her eyes were still focused downwards.

Abby sighed. "I…I, It felt right." Abby forced the truth out. "It felt like that's where I was supposed to be."

Kerry's hand came up to her face and she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "You're not gay, Abby."

Abby brought another leg up, now sitting cross legged. "Why should that matter? You didn't think you were gay until Legaspi, right? And how can you be so sure I've never had feelings for another woman?"

Kerry did a double take. "How do you know about Kim?"

Abby shook her head. "You kissed back; you just said that, Kerry. You wouldn't have kissed me back had you not felt something." She said, ignoring Kerry's question.

"I never said that I didn't feel anything, Abby." She corrected.

Abby cupped her own chin in her hand and planted her elbow on her bent leg. She turned her head in her hand and faced Kerry, her brown eyes meeting Kerry's green ones. "I just don't know what we're supposed to do with these feelings."

Kerry brought her glass to her lips and took a long sip. Swallowing, she continued to look straight at Abby, their met gaze speaking volumes. As a chunk of brown hair fell in Abby's line of vision, Kerry reached out and brushed it away, her hand running gently against the younger woman's smooth cheekbone. "Me either."

* * *

**A/N:** Longest chapter I've ever written, I think. Tell me what you think…good, bad, corny, in the middle? I want to know! Thanks for reading and, hopefully, reviewing!

Oh! And Adelie, the name of Kem and John's daughter, is French, while Malaya, the name of Ray and Neela's daughter, is Indian...wanted to get a bit cultural here, so there you go.


	3. Chapter 3

"I didn't mean to! I really didn't!" Joe whined, adding to the noise already created by Kerry talking.

Kerry shook her head and folded over the already-bloody cloth, reapplying the pressure to Henry's nose. "Joe," she tried getting the younger boy's attention. "Joe," she called again. He looked at her, bracing himself. "It's okay, it was only a mistake, right?" her tone was softer, putting him slightly more at ease.

He nodded. "He was goalie and I took a shot and I didn't aim for his face, but that's where it went…" he explained before looking at Henry, "I'm sorry, Henry."

Henry tried to talk from behind the bloody cloth, but his voice was muffled. Instead, he only waved his hand forward. Kerry would have smiled at her son's maturity, but she was too busy folding the dish cloth over once more, trying to stop the blood from gushing out of his nose. She directed him over to the kitchen table and placed his own hand on the cloth. "Hold this." She said, turning around to grab a new cloth. She jumped back a bit, startled, when she turned right into Abby, having not known that the brunette was standing behind her.

Abby, who walked into the kitchen after her son apologized, handed Kerry a rag she had taken from a drawer and stepped awkwardly to the side. "Here...sorry."

Kerry nodded and thanked her, but turned back to Henry and replaced the drenched cloth with the clean one from Abby. "Does anything else hurt? Your head?"

Henry shook his head. The bleeding had slowed considerably and he pulled the cloth away, "Just my nose." He said, wincing slightly.

Kerry pulled Henry's hand from his nose and studied its shape. With gentle fingers she probed the very top of the bridge of his nose and squeezed slightly, moving lower and lower. She only got about a quarter inch when Henry winced considerably, jerking away from his mother's hand and further back in his seat.

Kerry winced, too, sorry to have caused her son pain. "I know, bud, I'm sorry…" she said, moving her fingers further and further until she met the lower lateral cartilage.

Abby watched from over Kerry's shoulder, unable to see any visible deformity. "Is it displaced?"

Kerry shook her head. "Definitely a fracture, though."

Henry's left eyebrow arched slightly and Abby was astounded at just how much he reminded her of Kerry when he did it. Henry's left hand held the cloth out to the side and he spoke. "So it's broken?"

Kerry nodded, took a step back and went to the freezer. "And starting to swell." She said, pulling an icepack and wrapping another cloth around it. "Take this, lay down on the couch, and put your head on a pillow." She ordered. "And change your shirt...I don't think that one's salvageable."

Henry took the icepack and stalked off into the living room and up the stairs. No more than a minute later, he came bounding back down the stairs with a different shirt on, this one the color of a tomato on purpose, and the icepack still in his hand. Joe continued to stand in the kitchen, looking around blankly as if he wasn't sure if he should follow or not, until Henry called out. "You wanna' watch the game, Joe?" Joe grinned slightly to himself and headed into the living room, flopping down in the recliner while Henry did as he had been told.

While the two boys made themselves comfortable in the living room, switching on ESPN, Kerry busied herself with the two bloody rags and the mess that had apparently been made on the kitchen table. Abby chipped in as well, silently working alongside Kerry until the blood was cleaned up and the rags were discarded. "I haven't seen that much blood since…"

Abby raised an eyebrow. "Your shift on Thursday?"

Kerry chuckled. "I meant at home…"

"Oh." Abby smirked. "Does he get soccer balls to the face often?" she joked.

"Soccer balls, baseballs, hockey pucks…not always to the face, though." She smiled.

Abby shook her head and leaned against the counter, crossing her arms over her abdomen. "I always thought you'd have him wrapped in bubble wrap."

Kerry frowned slightly. "You think I didn't try?" She joked. "Because I did…he broke out of it at age two, I swear; it just went downhill from there." She finished with an easy smile.

Abby laughed. "Evidently…but at least he hasn't gotten into, well, drugs…or sex…or-"

Kerry covered her ears and shook her head playfully with a smile painted clearly across her face. "I don't want to hear it, Abigail."

Abby chuckled as her eyes rolled. She dropped the subject at Kerry's request. "I don't know how you've done it…" She thought aloud.

Kerry raised an eyebrow. "How I've done what?"

Abby sighed. "How have you done it all by yourself?" She asked bluntly.

Kerry realized what she was talking about; she often wondered how she had brought up Henry by herself, too. She shrugged and tilted her head to the side. "Are you truly curious, or are you  
wondering how you're going to do it?"

Abby gave a weak smile. "Probably a little bit of both."

Kerry left her stance and walked towards Abby, stopping in front of the slightly shorter woman and placing both hands on the brunette's shoulders. "You'll be fine, Abby…" she moved her hands and cupped Abby's face. "I promise."

Abby squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop the tears she felt coming. She was also working hard to stop the heat and electricity she felt coursing through her body from Kerry's touch. "I can't." she opened her damp eyes and stared into Kerry's green ones. "I can't do it." She repeated, her voice a hoarse whisper.

Kerry pulled Abby's face gently, forcing her vision to fall on her. "Yes you can." She said sternly. "It's going to be hard, and sometimes you're going to want to give up, but when you see your son smiling and you hear him laughing, you'll remember that you know you can do it." she said, speaking solely from experience. "You can do it, Abby."

A scared tear slid down Abby's cheek, its wet warmth almost cool against her burning skin. She tried finding her voice, stuttering a bit at first. "I…I don't want to be alone, Kerry." She whispered, tears falling freely from the corners of her eyes.

Kerry moved closer to Abby, pulling the younger woman into a tight hug with her hands on the back of Abby's head. The embrace was uncomfortable for her- she felt an immense, though confusing, attraction to her friend, and knew that Abby felt something similar, but they had hardly talked about it since that night a few days earlier on the swing-, but she didn't care; Abby needed someone who knew what she was going through, and Kerry just happened to be that person. "I know you, Abigail…you'll be fine." She said, speaking over her shoulder.

"It's not that…" Abby swallowed hard. "I don't want to be alone because I want to be with you."

Kerry stiffened noticeably, making their contact that much more awkward. She let go slightly, though she was still embracing Abby. "Abby…" she said, her tone almost warning.

Abby shook her head, stepping back from Kerry but still pinning her with strong eyes. "No, Kerry. I tried forgetting what happened on Thursday, and I tried stopping myself from wanting it to happen again, but I can't, Kerry." She said, her volume low and tone soft. "I love you."

A heat rose from Kerry's stomach and flooded her body. Her cheeks were burning as she pulled Abby into a kiss so powerful that they brunette fumbled slightly before molding into Kerry's embrace. Kerry's tongue explored every crevice of Abby's mouth with care and her head tilted further and further to the left as her hand crept to the base of Abby's skull. Delicate fingers massage Abby's head as they continued to kiss, their lips never parting.

As she had just three days earlier, Abby felt as if she were in the perfect place; she was where she belonged. Her arms wrapped around Kerry's shoulders but, as soon as the contact was made, Kerry pulled from Abby and turned away, walking over to the opposite counter with her head down. Abby's heart sunk as the embrace faltered and she raised her eyebrows in question. She was about to speak when Henry appeared in the doorway, completely oblivious to what had just gone on.

Kerry acted just as normal. "Hey, how's the nose?" She asked, walking over to her son.

Henry closed his eyes for a long moment. "I don't feel good…at all…" his voice was weak and Abby noticed the paleness of his face.

Kerry frowned; she hadn't even thought to check for a concussion before. Sure, she had asked him if his head hurt, but she hadn't gotten any further. She switched over to full doctor mode, leaving almost all of her maternal instincts behind, and sat Henry down in the chair he had earlier occupied. "Does anything else hurt?"

Henry began to nod but thought better of it. Not wanting to jar his already pounding head he spoke. "My nose."

Kerry gave him a skeptical look. "And…?"

Henry sighed. "I might have a headache…" he held back.

Abby was astonished at just how much Henry was like Kerry when it came to showing any form of weakness or pain; he wanted to push it away and be strong, much like how Abby had seen Kerry years earlier, first when she had miscarried and again when she finally decided to have her hip replaced.

Kerry rolled her eyes. "Which means your head is pounding…" she muttered. "What else?"

His eyes still shut, Henry responded. "That's it."

Kerry sighed. "Do you know what the date is?"

"It's July 2nd, 2017." He said easily. "And I know that it happened when Joe and I were playing soccer in the backyard and I stopped his shot with my face. I also know that the Fourth of July is in two days and you got home at six o'clock this morning because you got called in late last night when Tony had to go home sick."

Abby stifled a laugh at Henry's attitude but kept her eyes focused on the bruising and swelling around his brown eyes. The bridge of his nose still looked straight and even, but his eyes looked tired, verging on distant. She hadn't noticed before, but he really did not look well at all. "You thinking he's concussed?" she asked.

Kerry nodded and sighed. "I wasn't thinking you needed a CT scan, but it probably wouldn't hurt."

Henry groaned. "Uncle Carlos is going to have a fit if I can't play on Tuesday."

Kerry cocked an eyebrow. "You weren't playing in that tournament anyway, bud…baseball with a broken nose is another injury waiting to happen." She said. Kerry spoke again before Henry had a chance to fire back. "Are you still nauseous?"

Henry shook his head slightly. "Not right now…"

"Alright, then let me grab my bag and we can go." She said.

Henry groaned again. "Go where? County?"

Abby placed a hand on Henry's shoulder and gave him a weak smile. "Your mom just loves that place so much, she can't stand staying away." He rolled his eyes though a smile crossed his face. Abby grinned and replaced Henry's now-melted ice pack with a fresh one from the freezer. "You guys keep a lot of these, don't you?" She asked, noting the numerous packs tucked into spare spaces in the freezer.

Henry shrugged."They're mostly for Mom's hip…and for when this," he pointed to his discolored face, "happens."

Abby raised her eyebrows in question at the first part of Henry's response but pushed the rising question to the back of her mind. Kerry reentered the kitchen and cocked an eyebrow. "You ready?"

Henry sighed. "Fine…" his tone screamed some sort of exasperation, but Abby couldn't tell if it was genuine or forced, for dramatic effect. He stood up from his chair and steadied himself with a hand on the table.

Abby's brow furrowed. "You okay?"

He waved his hand dismissively and opened his eyes, "Just a little lightheaded for a second." He said, walking past Abby and his mother, heading towards the door.

Kerry followed him with questioning eyes then turned to Abby. "We need to stop doing this." She said with weak humor.

Abby raised an eyebrow.

"You know, having these passionate outbursts right before I end up leaving." Her tone was soft and she wore a smile.

Abby's head fell to the side and she smirked. "I'll make dinner."

Kerry spun the car keys around her index finger and smiled. "We shouldn't be long." She replied, her eyes lingering on Abby an extra, unnecessary, second. She tore her eyes away, snapping back to reality. "Alright, we'll be back soon." She said quickly, turning and leaving the kitchen.

Abby nodded and watched as the redhead went.

About three, three and a half hours later, at about seven thirty, the front door opened revealing a very haggard-looking Henry with Kerry on his heels. Abby looked up from the laptop perched on her crossed legs and Joe glanced up from the comic book he held in his hands.

"What's the verdict?" Abby asked, closing her laptop and uncrossing her legs.

Kerry set her bag on the ground and dropped her keys on the table near the door. "Mild concussion and non-displaced nasal fracture."

Henry pointed up the stairway and walked towards them. "I'm going to go shower."

Kerry nodded. "And take some Tylenol."

Abby watched the teenager climb the stairs before she pushed herself off of the couch. "We made pesto pasta with chicken." Abby said, walking with Kerry into the kitchen. "Joe was hungry so we ate, but there are leftovers in the fridge."

Kerr nodded silently and took a seat at the kitchen island, her elbows planted on the countertop and her chin cradled in her hands. She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, tiredly. "He scares me." She murmured quietly.

The comment surprised Abby; Kerry had seemed perfectly cool, calm and collected earlier. Abby knew there was no way, if that had been Joe, she would have been so relaxed. Hell, that had been Joe, years ago when he was only a toddler, and she had nearly had herself a panic attack.

Abby's silence brought more words from Kerry. "He's too much like his mother…" she continued. "This is his second concussion, third broken bone….he doesn't stop, and he never lets on to how much pain he's in which makes it just that much harder to treat him, both as his mother and as a doctor…"

Kerry's statement brought someone to mind, but it wasn't Sandy. "He sounds more like you, if you ask me."

Kerry gave Abby a wry glance but held her words for a second, swallowing the witty comebacks that were attempting to break through. "You didn't really know Sandy."

Abby's shoulders shrugged and she stood behind Kerry, placing her hands on either side of the women's neck. She held them still for a while before they went to work, kneading the unseen, though so obviously built-up, stress that was stored there. "But I know you, and I know that when he said he only had a headache all I could think of was you." Abby spoke softly.

Kerry stiffened slightly at Abby's initial touch, but allowed her body to accept the contact. She knew she had to keep her mind from wandering towards the gutter, but she couldn't help but think that Abby had very, very good hands. Kerry let her head fall forward a little bit, her shoulders pushing up into Abby's grasp. "I think you would have made a good psychiatrist," she grinned, "or a good masseuse."

A low, soft chuckle escaped Abby's throat as she continued to work the tension out of Kerry's shoulders. "I'm content."

Kerry's head was heavy, continuing to hang low. "What're we doing, Abby?" She asked evenly.

Abby's hands never let up. "Not to quote Colbie Caillat, but I think I'm falling for you." Kerry's eyes questioned and Abby shook her head. "Never mind."

Kerry sighed and allowed her eyes to drift shut, he shoulders rolling even higher and deeper into Abby's hands. "You live 900 miles away."

Abby's hands started a new pattern, working harder but slower. "I don't like Boston and, without Luka, there's not much there."

Kerry's breath caught a little as Abby reached a particularly tense spot and she spoke. "You work in Boston."

Abby continued to knead the same spot until she felt the muscles relaxed. She found herself wondering how much stress this one woman could actually hold. "I hate Mass General."

The older woman stayed in the same position and her voice remained even. "What about Joe?"

The pressure Abby was applying increased and Kerry winced a bit. "Sorry…" she apologized quickly. "It would be a hard adjustment, but I don't think it'd get any easier with time…and I don't think it'd be good, for either of us, to be around Luka."

Kerry's head nodded lazily. "Have you talked to Janet?"

Abby's hands stilled for but a moment when Kerry mentioned Janet Coburn, the well-known gynecologist and Abby's sponsor. She picked the pace back up again and asked herself how Kerry knew to ask that. "Why would I talk to Janet?"

Kerry stiffened slightly and her head rose. "I'm sorry…I just figured you'd…you know, that something might have…" she began. "I shouldn't have assumed."

Abby shook her head. "It's a safe bet that I'd drink," she said, telling Kerry that she hadn't been completely out of the park when she'd said that, "but I didn't." Kerry nodded and relaxed slightly and Abby spoke again. "I wanted to, though. Every time we fought, every time he wasn't here when I needed him, every time when I wanted so badly to love him, but I couldn't."

Kerry remained neutral. "But you didn't, and that's what matters."

Abby nodded, more to herself than anyone else. "I wanted to call you."

"You could have…should have." Kerry replied.

"Remember that time a few months ago? Six or seven, I think…when I called?" Kerry nodded and Abby continued, her hands massaging as she talked. "I was going to tell you everything that night, but when I heard how tired you were, I stuck to civilities….I said something, something about Joe, I think, and you laughed. The sound of that noise leaving your throat made me smile for the first time in I don't know how long." She worked on Kerry's shoulders, allowing more words to leave her mouth as she did so. "I went to bed thinking about how much I missed you, that night. And it wasn't a sudden feeling , missing you…I've missed you since you left for Miami, but I think life covered that up for a while."

Kerry's head moved back and forth slowly, nodding. "Friends miss friends." She tried arguing.

Abby's head moved left and right hastily. "I've missed Neela and Susan and even Archie, once in a while…" she explained. "But not like I've missed you."

Kerry tried to swallow the feelings and words she felt welling up inside; she was not going to give in to her emotions again. At least not completely. The undeniable truth, though, was that Kerry had missed Abby on a not-so-platonic level since she had left Chicago, too. She, however, had forced herself to look past them, forget them, dismiss them as being ninety nine point nine percent friend-related feelings. She had very nearly succeeded until Abby called her eight days earlier. "I can relate." She said simply.

Abby's hands still worked. "So…." She probed, hoping the other woman would continue.

Kerry held her head, the heals of her hands covering her eyes. "I don't know, Abby…I'm afraid you'll…" she tapered off.

Abby knew she'd better be careful; hearing the words 'I'm afraid' coming from Kerry Weaver's mouth was something that signaled the start of a new ballgame; the woman was opening up, showing her vulnerability, and Abby would be damned if she messed that up. "Afraid I'll what?"

A deep breath was drawn in shakily before Kerry spoke. "Leave me." The words were barely a murmur.

The words shook Abby, metaphorically shook, to the core; why the hell she hadn't thought of that, she wasn't sure. Though she wasn't sure what had gone on in the separation of Kerry and her husband, she knew Legaspi had run away, that Sandy had- not purposely, of course- died, and that Courtney had left Kerry and Henry for another job in New York after three years together. On a less-romantic level, Kerry had first been abandoned at the ripe old age of a few weeks old, when her teenage mother couldn't provide adequate care. For the first time, Abby realized that this woman was skilled at being left in the dust, and it wasn't a skill that she had acquired deliberately. "I don't want to leave you."

Kerry sighed. "But you can't say that you won't."

Abby shook her head. "I can't." she felt the defeat in Kerry's shoulders. "I can't because I don't know what the future holds…I don't know what's going to happen in eight days, eight months, eight years. I don't know, Kerry. I wish I could promise to be with you forever, but I can't make that promise. No matter how much I want to, I can't." she was finished until one last statement came to mind. "And Kerry, I really, really want to be able to make that promise."

Abby's hands were now planted, staying still, on Kerry's shoulders. Kerry turned on the bar stool and tilted her head up slightly, her tearful eyes meeting Abby's. She gazed into them for a long few moments before speaking quietly. "I don't want to lose you as a friend."

Abby could understand that. She herself had experienced too may relationships in which the break-up had left them on bad, less-than-friendly terms. Especially when she and her ex-lover were friends before they were involved romantically. On the other hand, however, she had had a handful of relationships that ended on good terms; she and Susan, who had had the most secretive of affairs after a drunken night years ago, remained the best of friends for years after. "You won't."

Kerry brought a hand to her eyes and wiped at the salty tears with the top of her thumb. "Would it be too forward to say that I love you?" She asked, her voice still quiet and still vulnerable.

Abby smiled and moved her hand from Kerry's shoulder to her cheek, brushing it gently as she moved. "I don't think so." She brought her other hand to Kerry's other cheek and pulled the older woman's mouth towards her. Abby planted the softest, most welcomed of kisses. She drew away slowly, after only a few seconds, and grinned. "I love you, too."

* * *

**A/N:** I'm contemplating where to go from here…just go straight to an epilogue? Add a whole other sub-plot? Do a few epilogue-like chapters? This is where I need your input, people! Please, please, please tell me what you want to see. I need some ideas and input, or else I can't guarantee this will go in any, particularly good, direction. And I'm sorry about the lack of updates…I'm moving this Saturday, and I've been packing like a madwoman.


	4. Chapter 4

**I previously said that Joe is entering sixth grade…I've changed my mind: he'll be entering seventh grade, which makes him 12. I don't even know if that'll matter in the grand scheme of the story, but just in case…Oh! And the following schools all exist and, as far as I know, any and everything said about them is factual. Just sayin'.**

Abby felt Kerry's soft, smooth legs intertwined with hers and strong, weathered hands in her own; it was a physically close, intimate position and it was going to be a hell of a one to get out of. Especially if she didn't want to disturb her counterpart. She slowly extracted her hands from Kerry's and stilled completely when the older woman stirred. She waited until she was sure the redhead's breathing was even before she began pulling her legs away.

Abby could practically feel Kerry's eyes flash open.

"Wha-" her voice was groggy but startled; an interesting mix, Abby thought.

"Shhh…" Abby said, turning around so she was semi facing Kerry. "I need to go back to the guest room before the boys are up…"

The lids of Kerry's eyes were heavy and she took a long blink. "What time is it?"

Abby squinted at the digital clock over Kerry's shoulder. "Six twenty three."

Kerry half moaned, half groaned and pulled gently on Abby's arm. "They're both basically teenagers…we could stay in bed until nine and neither one of them would have any earthly idea."

A short, soft laugh escaped Abby and she gently brushed a stray red hair from Kerry's face. She leaned in and planted a slow kiss on Kerry's forehead before retreating. "I don't want to take any chances…there are better ways to find out that your mother is sleeping with her houseguest than seeing her come out of the master bedroom wearing nothing but a nightshirt." She whispered, covering her naked form with an oversized, blue colored button down blouse.

Kerry sighed and pulled her own discarded pajama top over her head. "Henry's easy going, but I don't think that'd fly smoothly."

Abby smirked and bent over Kerry once more, her brunette tresses falling as a veil over Kerry's face. She took Kerry's bottom lip between her teeth delicately before pulling away slowly. "I'll see you soon…"

Kerry nodded and watched as the brunette walked away; how the tails of her blouse went down to her thighs and her hair was mussed and ruffled, a true example of sex hair, and with good reason, she thought. The younger woman gave one more fleeting look at Kerry, paired it with a soft smile, then left the room, reclosing the door as she went.

Kerry rolled onto her back again, her eyes set on the blackness of the room's ceiling; her exhaustion from the previous nights' activities held her captive and she soon fell back to sleep.

Three hours later, as Kerry had foreseen, Joe moseyed into the kitchen, his basketball shorts hanging low on his thing hips and a navy tee shirt reading 'The Advent School' sitting comfortably on his torso. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. Kerry watched from where she sat at the island, slightly amused at the boy's zombie-like walk. He silently took a seat next to her at the counter and cupped his chin in his hands. "Happy 4th of July." He said, his eyes opening fully.

Kerry chuckled. "You too…did you sleep well?"

A wicked smile crept across Joe's face and he nodded. "The only good thing about Henry's nose is that he doesn't snore…" He said, secreting laughter.

Kerry set down the journal she held in her hands and smiled. "I guess that is a plus." She replied as she eyed Joe's shirt. "Is that where you go to school?"

Joe gave her a confused look before he saw where her eyes were trained. He nodded. "I did…" he explained. "I'm going to Latin next year…for seventh grade and everything."

Kerry's eyebrows arched. "Boston Latin?"

The young boy nodded, unfazed by Kerry's surprise. "I wanted to go to a regular, easy school…but Mom and Dad said that Latin's the best."

Kerry nodded in agreement with Abby and Luka. "It is."

Joe nodded again. "Except I can't play any sports there until I'm in ninth grade…at least not for the school."

The words rang familiar, from the short conversation she and Joe had shared on the first night of his and Abby's visit, but Kerry was still shocked that this boy, who was quite obviously bright, cared more about playing sports at the prestigious school than he did the actual academic side of it all. She realized, however, as a second thought, that that really shouldn't surprise her; Henry had been the same way when he was accepted to the Latin School of Chicago for eighth grade; he wanted to know which sports he could play and when he could play them. Kerry refocused her eyes on Joe. "Do you play for a club?"

Joe nodded and a smile reappeared. "In the fall, winter, and spring." He explained. "It's fun, but a lot of my teammates aren't going to Latin so they'll be able to play for school next year."

Kerry nodded; she was, much to her own surprise, relatively interested in Joe's soccer stories. It had taken a lot of explanation on both Carlos' and Henry's- when he was old enough to understand the rules himself- parts for her to appreciate the general idea of the game, and by the time Henry had started playing for Latin, she could actually witness a whole game without having to ask more than a handful of questions afterwards. In that time, she had also grasped the concepts of baseball and, Sandy's very favorite, hockey. "Do you play any other sports?"

Joe shook his head. "I used to play baseball but I didn't like it…not enough running." He explained. "It's still fun to watch, though."

Kerry chuckled and nodded before she took hold of her coffee mug and brought it to her lips, taking a long sip. At once, after the talk of schools and the coming year, the thought of if Joe really would be attending Boston Latin the coming year crossed her mind; she wasn't set on U-Hauling with Abby just yet, but the younger woman herself had said that she didn't particularly like Boston and had no intention of staying there. The hot liquid slid down her throat and her attention was brought back to reality.

Abby appeared in the doorway, dressed in cropped boyfriend jeans and a loose blouse. Her hair was still noticeably damp from her shower and her face had a fresh, glowing look to it. Kerry had to tear her eyes away as she slid off her seat. She discarded her mug in the sink then headed out of the kitchen, "I'm going to go wake up sleeping beauty then hop in the shower…"

Abby nodded and watched as Kerry fled.

Kerry knocked gently on Henry's bedroom door before pushing it open. The medium sized room had a few rays of light seeping in through the curtain and Kerry headed straight for the bed, praying to God she wouldn't trip over any of the boys' things. She made it safely and sat down on the edge of Henry's bed, her hand finding his bony hip. She shook him gently at first, murmuring his name, then added more force and volume when he didn't respond. She finally elicited a groan from the teenager, which brought a chuckle from her own throat. "Come on, Henry…you still want to go to the tournament, right? See your friends, cousins…see Sawyer?"

As Kerry had hoped, the mention of Sawyer woke Henry right up. Now sitting up in bed, he eyed his mother with a look of both panic and curiosity strewn across his face. "How do you know about Sawyer?" He demanded.

Kerry smiled and patted his knee. "She called yesterday afternoon and wanted to know if you were going to be going to the games today…" she answered, "I told her you would be."

Henry attempted to hide the blush that was devouring his ears but failed, settling on a secreted smile. "Thanks…"

Kerry smiled and nodded once. "I'm going to take a shower…we're leaving around eleven, eleven thirty, alright?" Henry nodded and Kerry pushed herself off the bed, heading out the door and towards her bathroom.

At eleven fifteen on the dot, Henry, dressed in plaid shorts and his baseball team's jersey, and Joe, wearing a similar outfit minus the jersey, slid into the backseat of Kerry's Jetta and the four were off to Dunham Park.

"So Henry," Abby began, talking to the fourteen year old from over her shoulder, "who's Sawyer?"

Henry instantly looked up at the rearview mirror, catching his mother's eye. Kerry shrugged. "I didn't tell her a thing…" she promised.

Abby grinned and turned around slightly. "I was the one who answered the phone when she called."

Henry sighed and did the well-known baseball hat move; he slipped it off and held it while he ran the same hand through his hair. Abby wasn't sure what good it did because every guy she'd seen do it ended up with just as messy of a hairstyle as before. And, in Henry's case, the style was pretty messy.

"She's a friend…" Henry said, pulling the brim of his hat back down. "from school."

Abby snorted a laugh and answered sardonically. "Now we're getting somewhere."

Henry rolled his eyes but smiled at the remark. "She's my age…um, we had Algebra together last year?" He shrugged. "I don't know…"

Kerry smiled to herself and glanced quickly at Abby, who had the remnants of a smile on her face, as well. They drove the rest of the short ten minutes in silence, Henry gladly basking in the cease of the embarrassment.

When the four arrived at the park, which was abuzz with families of teenagers, parents, toddlers, grandparents and everyone in between, Kerry pulled into the first, and only, open spot she saw and they filed out. Henry instantly pulled out his phone and a small grin graced his lips before he started violently thumbing away in response to whatever text message he had just gotten.

Kerry pretended not to notice Henry's giddiness and focused on finding the Lopez family. She stood slightly on her tiptoes, eyes searching, until she spotted the familiar 5'9" man wearing the familiar number nine baseball jersey. Henry spotted him, too, and headed over, Joe at his side with Abby and Kerry a few paces behind.

"Hey Chico," Carlos, Henry's youngest and closest uncle, said when he spotted his nephew walking towards the dugout. They greeted in a 'bro-hug' before taking a step back. "Your mom told me no baseball, eh? Had to go and break your nose on us…" He mock-scolded.

Henry rolled his eyes and played along. "Having a concussion doesn't give me much ammo to fight back with, either."

Carlos laughed and flicked the brim of his nephew's hat before glancing over his shoulder where, only about three feet away, Joe stood. He looked back at Henry and raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Henry gave him a confused look before his eyes lit up and he spun to the side. "Right! Carlos, this is Mom's friends', Abby and Luka's, son, Joe; Joe, this is my Uncle Carlos."

Carlos grinned and held out his hand. Joe did the same and gave a firm shake. "Nice to meet you, Joe." He said. "Abby…and...Luka…" he repeated the names slowly out loud. "Kovac?"

Joe nodded, not completely sure how this man knew his parents.

"That's why you're so tall." Carlos said straightforwardly, a smile spread across his face.

That put Joe at ease and he nodded. "5'3" and 6'4"…." He recited his parents' height, "hoping I really get my dad's height."

Carlos chuckled before looking in between the boys. His eyes set on Kerry and Abby, who were meandering their way over, Carlos put his hands on either of the boys' shoulders. "I'll talk to you guys later."

Henry nodded before venturing further into the dugout, saying hello and introducing Joe to all of his friends and teammates.

Carlos left the dugout and adjusted his hat, pulling the brim a bit further down. He weaved through a small cluster of his teams' parents before he was standing in front of who he consider his sister-in-law and her friend. A smile instantly found its way to Kerry's face when she saw him and she wrapped her arms around the younger man's neck in a mutually initiated hug. Abby stood back, a tad bit in awe at how friendly and, well, family-like Kerry and Carlos were. She smiled, as well, happy to see Kerry happy.

Carlos gave one last, lingering squeeze before letting the older woman go back onto the flats of her feet. "You do know Henry's our first string catcher, right?" He asked. "His helmet has a facemask and everything."

Kerry rolled her eyes and patted Carlos' shoulder. "Dream on." She said before turning towards Abby. "Carlos, you know Abby, right? She worked at County for a while…"

The thirty seven year old smiled and nodded, holding out his hand to the brunette. "Nice to see you again."

Abby smiled. "You too."

A boy with the teams' hat over his shaggy blonde hair appeared next to Carlos and tapped him on the shoulder, gesturing towards the dugout. Though no words were exchanged, Carlos nodded and the boy retreated. "Gotta' go…you guys are coming to the cookout, right?"

Kerry tilted her head side to side once. "We'll see." She replied.

Carlos rolled his eyes and turned to leave. "See you after the game, Ker." He said, giving a quick upwards nod towards Abby.

Once Carlos left, Kerry and Abby found seats on the lower end of the metal bleachers. Abby so badly wanted to reach over and thread her fingers through Kerry's by knew she had to restrain; nothing says 'we're sleeping with each other' like two grown women holding hands at a little league baseball game.

Five innings into the game, Kerry felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she smiled when Alexandra, Carlos' six year old daughter, held out her arms towards Kerry in the universal gesture for a hug. She complied with a smile. "My goodness, Alex, you just get prettier and prettier each time I see you!" She said.

The young girl smiled and giggled, "Auntie Kerry, you just saw me a couple weeks ago!"

Kerry smiled at the young girl and stood up, Alex threading her hand through Kerry's as she did. "Where are your mom and sister?" she asked. Before Alex replied, Kerry glanced at Abby over her shoulder and nodded her head, cueing Abby to get up and follow. Abby complied, following Kerry and her niece. Kerry's very cute niece, she noted; Alex's thick, brown curls fell to just below her shoulder blades and her naturally tan skin looked even darker in contrast to her brightly colored floral skirt and white tank top.

Alex led them to the other side of the dugout, pulling Kerry's hand gently and talking all the way. Abby couldn't understand exactly what she was saying, but had to secrete a chuckle when she saw Kerry's head nod and heard a handful of 'mhm's' coming from her lips.

Alex released Kerry's hand once they found themselves on the other side and skipped over to her mom. "Mommy! See! I told you I would find Auntie Kerry!" She exclaimed, bouncing up and down.

Carlos' wife looked to where Kerry stood. "Kerry…" she greeted, smiling. "Wasn't sure if we'd be seeing you today."

Kerry smiled back, "Henry wanted to see everyone…" she turned and towards Abby then looked back to Carlos' wife, "Rachel, this is my friend Abby;" she turned back to Abby, "Abby, Carlos' wife, Rachel."

The two women flashed each other a warm smile and shook hands. No words were exchanged and Kerry broke the momentary silence, "Are Florina and Gonzalo here?"

Rachel nodded, her brown curls bouncing slightly, and pointed to her right. Kerry and Abby's eyes followed and found the couple further down the fence, talking with who Kerry knew to be Eddie. "You're coming to the cookout after the game, right?" Rachel asked, her wording almost identical to her husband's, sending a smirk straight to Kerry's lips and a forcing a chuckle from Abby's throat.

Kerry shrugged. "I'm betting I'll get that from them, too…" she leaned against the fence and then noticed something missing. "Where's Grace?" She asked of Carlos and Rachel's eight year old daughter.

Rachel pointed towards the dugout. Kerry glanced to her left and smiled when she saw the young girl; a too-big team cap sat on her head and she held a bat in her hand. "She's playing batgirl for the game."

There was a small 'pffft' noise from the ground and Alex spoke up, her raspy voice demanding attention. "Yeah, 'cause she stole my idea!"

Abby and Kerry both hid their smiles at the six year old's exasperation. Rachel rolled her eyes goodheartedly. "Daddy said you can do it next game, babe."

Another sound, this one more a huff than anything, could be heard and the three woman refocused their attention to the game.

By the end of the six innings, Henry's team pulled away with a win and Florina, Gonzalo and Eddie had yet to venture their way. As everyone went towards the dugout, parents and siblings congratulating their sons and brothers, Florina appeared at Kerry's side. Abby sensed a moment of tension and planned her escape quickly, "I'll just go find Joe…" she said, heading for where she knew her son to be.

Kerry locked eyes with Abby for a moment, their gaze saying more words than they could vocalize without giving them away. She nodded at her love then looked at Florina. The older woman smiled slightly. "Is that that Abby?" She asked.

Kerry smiled at her choice of words. "Yep…I think you guys met when Henry was just an infant."

Florina gave her a wry smile. "Fourteen years ago? You think I remember that?" She chuckled, more to herself than at Kerry. "She seems sweet…is Joe her husband?"

Kerry's left eyebrow arched. "No…Joe's her son. He's twelve." She knew what Florina was doing; the older woman was checking up on her, making an attempt to find out if the two women were sleeping with each other. She knew it wasn't out of spite or hatred of Kerry having a sex life; the Lopez's had actually, in the seventeen years Kerry had been a part of their lives, began to accept her lifestyle, especially since Henry wanted nothing to do with some of their more narrow-minded thoughts. In the more recent years, even, Florina had acted as a somewhat maternal figure to Kerry. It was an awkward relationship at times, but both women learned to love and accept each other for who they were.

Florina nodded then looked at Kerry. "You're coming to the cookout, right?"

Kerry laughed a short laugh. "I saw that coming…" she grinned, "I'll see how Henry's feeling and check with Abby…" she trailed off, suddenly hoping the invitation was open to Abby and Joe, as well.

Florina caught on and gave Kerry a smile, her small, weathered hand gripping Kerry's forearm for a moment. "The four of you, of course…the more the merrier, right?"

Kerry smiled and nodded. "I'll go talk to them now…"

Florina inclined her head slightly and Kerry went off in search of Abby, Joe, and her concussed son.

Thirty minutes later, after a quick stop at home, Kerry and Abby were walking slowly into the backyard of Florina and Gonzalo Lopez's house. The two boys had run ahead, eager to join Henry's cousins and family members in the pool to escape the heat, leaving Kerry and Abby by themselves.

Kerry halted Abby right outside the gate to the backyard and, without a glance over her shoulder or a quick scan of her surroundings, planted a quick, albeit passionate, kiss on the younger woman's lips.

Abby stumbled slightly before pulling back. She raised her eyebrow and glanced around, "Kerry…"

Kerry smiled softly and leaned in once more. Just inches away from Abby's face, she spoke softly, "It's alright." Kerry only let her lips linger for a few moments before pulling away. "I love you."

Abby smiled and caressed Kerry's jaw line with one stroke. "I love you, too."

Kerry pulled away slowly and walked through the gate and into the backyard, keeping a fair amount of distance between herself and Abby.

The couple went around, visiting and chatting, laughing and eating. Abby was astounded at how friendly the majority of Sandy's family was; while she had hardly ever seen Gonzalo, the few times she had, she'd gotten the sort of vibe that told her he wasn't a very nice person, but now he was smiling and laughing and talking with Kerry. She figured, however, that no father could be cheery just weeks after the death of their only daughter.

After an hour or so, the buffet table was set out and everyone was lining up to eat. Abby went off to find Joe, just to check in on her son, and Kerry stayed back for a moment, allowing others to get in line before her. She stood on the deck, watching Abby and Joe interact like a silent movie; she couldn't understand what they were saying, but didn't particularly mind just watching the younger woman move. Suddenly, she sensed a presence to her left. Kerry felt a hot blush creeping up her neck, but refused to acknowledge the person, afraid that she'd been caught.

"You are sleeping with her." It was Florina. Maternally perceptive Florina.

Kerry glanced at the older woman out of the corner of her eye and let out a small, though clearly audible, sigh. She nodded.

"Does Henry know?" She asked, her gaze moving from Kerry to her backyard.

Kerry shook her head. "Not yet."

Florina nodded slowly, understandingly. "You love her."

It was a statement, not a question, but Kerry felt compelled to answer. "I do." She whispered, her voice failing her as she admitted it to the one woman she'd been most afraid to face; when Kerry had first gotten together with Courtney, Florina had been less than approving. Kerry hadn't particularly cared, though, because, at the time, the Lopez's played a small, miniscule part in her and Henry's lives. Then, once she and Henry moved to Miami, the entire family began to resent her decision, deciding to put the blame on Courtney more so than on anything else. Three years later, when Kerry moved back after her split from Courtney, her deceased wife's family had welcomed her with open arms, absolutely delighted to have their grandson and nephew back home. As the years went on and she had the occasional relationship, more times than not, Florina disapproved, turning her nose up at any and every woman Kerry brought to Thanksgiving or Christmas, Easter or the 4th of July. At first, Kerry assumed it was the gay thing, but when she'd had enough of it and asked Carlos what his mother's problem was, he had alluded to the fact the Florina could tell Kerry wasn't happy with those women; they weren't what Kerry needed in her life. That particular revelation dumbfounded Kerry, striking a cord that sent a shock of admiration through her. Since then, though neither woman had vocalized what Carlos had told Kerry, the pair had been on a new level of friendliness; Kerry felt as if Florina had a sort of maternal feeling of duty for her, and she quite liked it.

Florina placed a hand on Kerry's forearm, allowing it to linger for a few moments, and squeezed gently. "Then don't give up on her."

Kerry felt her mouth go slightly slack but she made sure she kept it closed. She looked full-on at the older woman who smiled slightly and nodded forward once. "Let's go eat before the boys load their plates."

Kerry returned Florina's smile with one of her own and followed her ex mother-in-law towards the line of guests.

Abby was walking over with a sopping wet Joe in front of her and caught Kerry's eye, giving her a smile that was all eyes. The corners of Kerry's mouth turned up, too. Her little talk with Florina made it the fact that she and Abby would soon have to tell their sons that much more obvious, but the conversation had also given her confidence a boost; if Florina felt good about the situation, chances are she would rub off on the rest of the family and it'd be, for the most part, smooth sailing when it came to telling them, too. Not that that meant she wasn't at all nervous about making her relationship with Abby public; she was. She was most anxious, however, for Abby; Abby wasn't gay and had never made her relations with women public; years ago, when Kerry first realized her own sexuality, she had often wondered about the young then-nurse. However, once her on-again off-again relationships with John and Luka and whoever else became more and more public and Kerry and Sandy got together, she began to just not care. Sure, she still found the younger woman extremely attractive, but she was content just being friends. Abby had, in the past few days, alluded to having relations with women, but had never admitted or called herself bisexual. Kerry knew their relationship would come as a shock to those who knew them, and she also recognized the fact that not everyone of their friends would be pleased or accepting; a wave of fear and guilt and every related emotion washed over her whenever she thought of how Luka would react and feel when he found out.

Kerry promised herself, as she grabbed a thick paper plate from the end of the table, that she would talk with Abby soon and, together, they would figure out the next step; she took no joy out of hiding their continually growing relationship from their sons and knew that, no matter how scary it was, they would soon have to come clean.

She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind for the time being, though, wanting to enjoy the company of her family and friends.

* * *

**A/N:** Boston Latin School really is one of the hardest test-in schools in the country...not so sure about Latin of Chicago, but the site makes it seem pretty rigorous. Anyway, thanks for reading..please, please, please review! They mean the world to me and I'll consider them a birthday present ;)


	5. Chapter 5

Abby glanced towards Henry's bedroom as she peeked out of Kerry's doorway. It was quarter of nine, about an hour later than she had been returning to her own room for the past week, and she prayed to whatever gods would listen that neither Henry nor Joe would come meandering out. She saw that the bedroom door was still shut and silently tiptoed to her own room.

On the 5th of July, six days earlier, Kerry had told Abby all about the conversation she'd had with Florina. Abby had been floored; she had expected her lover's ex mother-in-law to be less than supportive of their relationship. She was, after all, the woman who had had a hand in trying to take Henry from Kerry back when Sandy had died.

Abby flopped down in her bed, her eyes focused on the bolted ceiling of the bedroom. She found herself wondering if this room, the guest room, would become Joe's room. Or, if maybe, they'd find a new house all together. Then she found herself wondering why in the world she was already thinking about moving in with Kerry; what if the older woman thought it'd be more effective to keep separate homes for at least a little while? Was Kerry impulsive enough to make such a large jump so quickly?

With a deep sigh Abby rolled onto her side and focused on the digital numbers of the alarm clock; nine o'clock. As if on cue with her thoughts, Abby heard the telltale sound of Kerry's shower turning on and, out of routine, slid out of her bed and pulled on more appropriate, less revealing clothes. It was something that they'd mastered over the past week; she would slip out of Kerry's bedroom before the boys were awake, would lie in bed until she heard the rush of water through the piping in the walls, then would make her way downstairs and meander around for a little while. The whole thing worked well while Kerry was working from twelve to eight, but Abby wasn't too sure what would happen once Kerry's schedule switched up the coming week. She also wasn't sure what else the coming week would bring; she and Joe would, eventually, have to head back to Boston.

Kerry wiped the fogged bathroom mirror impatiently, not wanting to wait for it to clear. What she saw when it was free of steam was less than satisfying: she had noticeably dark bags under her eyes and her eyes themselves were dull and weary from lack of sleep. The odd thing, however, was that she felt ten times better than she looked; she was happier than she'd been in a long while. She had dated off and on after Courtney left her for a job offer in New York, but she had never really found another relationship in which she was happy. At least not as happy as she had been. Sure, sex was good with Jodi and Sharon and Heidi, but those relationships hadn't been passionate, hadn't been functional enough to even have a chance at lasting. Of course, Courtney had made her happy, but her partner of three years had also very nearly broken her heart by choosing her career over her love. Abby, however, made her feel good, happy; Abby made her feel right.

Kerry finished her morning routine, pulling on charcoal colored pants and a loose, short sleeved blouse, and headed out her bedroom. She was about to turn towards the stairs when she did a double take, turning towards Henry's room instead. It was about five of ten, but she could never be sure when the two boys would wake up these days, so she proceeded to push through his bedroom door and peek in.

As she probably could have expected, there was a sprawled out lump in the bed and a pile of slept-in blankets on the floor; Joe was downstairs while Henry was still asleep. Well, at least still in bed. She crept over to his bed and, as she did most other mornings, sat on the edge, placing her hand on his blanketed hip. However, instead of the normal battle of waking up that that normally entailed, Henry's eyes instantly opened.

They both jumped a bit at the slight, albeit sudden, movement.

Kerry chuckled at her son. "Well, that was easy."

Henry blinked heavily. "What time's it?"

"About ten."

The teenager groaned and pulled his pillow out from under his head, smothering his own face with it instead.

Another chuckled exited Kerry's mouth. "What time did you guys go to sleep last night? Joe's already up and everything…" She asked, standing up from her son's bed and heading towards the window instead. She already knew that the pair had gone up to bed around quarter past twelve; contrary to what they thought, she and Abby had forced themselves to stay awake in separate rooms until the sounds of feet pattering across the floor had ceased and Henry's bedroom door had clicked shut .

"I don't know…midnight?" He said, lifting his pillow just enough to allow his voice to be clearly heard. "Not too late, but I woke up in the middle of the night…I guess I was having a dream, because I thought I heard a woman screaming."

Kerry was in the midst of opening the blinds of the window when Henry's words registered. Almost instantly she felt as if someone was standing behind her, holding a blow-dryer set on high inches away from either of her cheeks. No, Henry, that wasn't a dream; that was just your mother's reaction when she's at the hands of Abby because we're in a relationship that you and Joe have yet to be informed of. That's all.

Kerry went back to opening the blinds, swallowing hard in an attempt to clear the shock, fear, and, above all, embarrassment, this whole situation forced her to feel. "Odd dream." She said simply before turning to make her exit. "What're you up to today?"

Henry sat up slowly. "Joe and I were going to ask if we could go hang out with some friends…" he kept it vague as he grabbed a tee shirt from the end of his bed and pulled it over his head.

Kerry's eyebrow arched. "Where and who?"

Henry rubbed his eyes, carefully avoiding his nearly-healed nose. "Navy Pier with Caleb, Josh, Charlotte, Hannah, Nolan, Austin, Mikayla and Sawyer."

Kerry considered for a moment; Caleb and Josh, twins, seemed to have good heads on their shoulders, Charlotte was one of Henry's very best friends and had been since he had started at Latin, Hannah, who she had only met twice, seemed nice; shy, but sweet. Nolan and Austin, on the other hand, didn't rub her quite the right way. The two boys were, quite literally, partners in crime; they were constantly in trouble with their superiors and had had a run-in with the police this past year. Kerry had no idea who Mikayla was, but a small smile found its way to her lips when Henry metioned he'd be seeing Sawyer; the two teenagers had taken to each other like flies to honey at the 4th of July tournament and Kerry could see that Henry had a genuine crush on the girl.

Kerry looked Henry in the eye and gave a short nod. "It's fine by me, but you and Joe will have to ask Abby yourselves."

Henry smiled and stretched his long, tanned arms out. Through a yawn, he responded, "Thanks, Mom."

Kerry smiled and nodded, exiting her son's bedroom and heading for the stairs.

Abby poured herself another cup of coffee and returned to her seat at the breakfast bar, setting her tired eyes back upon the glowing screen of her laptop. She was just refreshing her work email when a soft, quiet voice came from the entry way of the kitchen behind her. "Where's Joe?"

Abby turned around and gave Kerry a soft smile. "He's outside with a soccer ball…"

Kerry grinned and peeked over Abby's shoulder, out the window; Joe was in the far corner of the backyard, kicking the ball against the rebound board Henry had gotten for his eleventh birthday. Concluding they were safe for at least a few minutes, Kerry moved so she was standing behind Abby and wrapped her arms loosely around the brunette's neck. With her head on Abby's shoulder, she left a soft, gentle kiss on her cheek.

Abby sighed slightly at the feeling of Kerry's mouth. "Is Henry awake?"

Kerry nodded and pulled away from Abby, taking the seat to her left instead. "He had a dream about a woman screaming last night…" She said suggestively, wanting to see how quickly Abby would catch on.

She eyed Kerry curiously "Oh?" and brought her mug up to her lips. Halfway through her sip, her brown eyes got two times larger and her hands fell, her mug departing from her lips. "Oh! Oh…Oh, shit." She exclaimed, setting her mug down on the countertop. "He doesn't….do you think he…shit."

Kerry ran a hand through her red hair and nodded. "Oh shit is right…but no, I don't think he has any reason to suspect…" she pondered the idea of Henry knowing for a second and shook her head. "I don't think he suspects a thing."

Abby nodded slowly, releasing a breath of air she'd, evidently, been holding. A small smirk formed on her face as a thought came to mind.

Kerry caught wind of the smirk and questioned her. "What?"

The leer grew larger on Abby's face and she shook her head. "Oh, nothing."

Kerry rolled her eyes at Abby's tone. "Well now you have to tell me…you know you want to."

Abby titled her head to the right slightly, then replied. "I was just thinking that you might want to think about quieting down a bit…" She muttered.

Kerry scoffed. "You think?" She asked rhetorically before planting one more kiss on Abby's cheek. She moved towards the counter opposite them and grabbed a mug for her own coffee. "And it's not like, when we tell them, we'll have an automatic go-ahead to-"

A voice from the door cut Kerry off.

"Tell who what?" Henry asked with the slightest hint of uneasiness in his voice.

Kerry's eyes flickered from Henry to Abby; Abby's eyes looked just as panicked as Kerry felt. Her eyes fell back to Henry and she composed herself quickly. "Um…well, uh…" apparently, composure was far gone. "Abby and I have something to tell you and Joe."

Kerry could almost feel the shock radiating from Abby.

Henry's head fell from twelve o'clock to one thirty. "Okay…" he pronounced the words slowly. "Are we in trouble?"

Kerry forced a smile and shook her head. "Go see if Joe wants breakfast, alright?"

Henry nodded and slid out the back door, suspicion lingering on his face.

Once he was safely a few feet from the house, Kerry let out a loud breath and covered her face with her hand.

Abby, too, was flustered, and she hadn't had to say a word. "He's got reason to be suspicious now, doesn't he?"

Kerry nodded and lifted her hand from her eyes. "Shit." She rolled her shoulders and went back to pouring herself a cup of coffee. She and Abby had put off telling their sons that they were together religiously, not wanting to spur it on them at the wrong time or go about it in a way that would harden the already rough blow. The couple had also agreed that they would do whatever they could to be sure the boys heard, not saw it, from them. That being the case, she knew that they truth would soon be unveiled. And, by the look on Abby's face, she knew it, too. "Tonight…" She said, "let's tell them tonight."

Abby nodded slowly in agreement and took a long sip of her coffee. "Tonight." She agreed.

The silence was broken when Henry and Joe slid the backdoor open, reentering the kitchen. They were talking about something, but Joe stopped when he saw his mom. "Hey, mom?"

Abby turned towards her son slowly, half afraid Henry had told him what he'd seen just minutes earlier. "Yeah?" she was a bit hesitant.

"Can I go with Henry and his friends to Navy Pier later this afternoon?"

A wave of relief washed over Abby and she looked at Kerry, silently questioning.

Henry caught wind and smiled. "My mom already said it was fine with her; we just had to ask you…"

Kerry nodded in confirmation and Abby turned back to her son. "It's fine by me, then…"

The two boys, who were almost the same height, grinned at each other in satisfaction. Henry headed to the counter and opened a cupboard, pulling out a box of cereal. "Will you be able to drop us  
off?" Henry asked, glancing at his mother.

Kerry shook her head. "Only if you're planning on going for eleven thirty." She said, putting the half and half back in the fridge. "I'm working twelve to eight again."

Henry sighed and ran a hand through his already-messy hair. Joe's eyebrows furrowed before he looked at his mother. "Could you, mom?"

Abby raised an eyebrow. "Drop you off with what? My private jet?"

Joe rolled his eyes at his mother's lame sarcasm. "Well okay, then." He muttered.

Kerry smirked. "I'll just take the El today." Kerry offered. "That way you aren't trapped in the house all day." She added her eyes set on Abby's.

Abby shrugged. "…if you're sure…"

Kerry smiled. "I'm sure." The two woman's gaze was split at the sound of the two boys' hands meeting in a high five. "What time are you guys going?"

Henry shrugged. "I think we're meeting up at four…do you think one of you will be able to pick us up around ten or ten thirty?"

Kerry glanced at Abby. "Sure…that should be fine…" she spoke slowly. Their plans of telling Joe and Henry were squashed, but the fact that, if Kerry's shift ended on time, they'd have nearly two full hours together alone, was invigorating.

The boys grinned and set themselves up with two bowls of cereal, sitting at the kitchen table and picking their sport or video game oriented conversation back up.

An hour and a quarter later Kerry was heading out the door. "Alright!" she called to Abby. "I'm off to work!"

There was the sound of quick footsteps and Abby was down the stairs, standing in front of Kerry. "Where are the boys?" she asked quietly.

Kerry smiled. "Outside again." Her left hand found Abby's cheek then moved to her chin, pulling her closer. "I'm going to see if I can get Archie or Tony to cover the last half of my shift…" she whispered seductively into Abby's ear.

Abby brushed her lips against Kerry's cheek. "Call me when you want me to pick you up…" she said.

Kerry nodded, the side of her face rubbing against Abby's, "Love you."

Abby kissed Kerr once more. "Love you, too." She replied. "Now get to work so you can come back home…"

Kerry chuckled and nodded. With a hand now on the doorknob, she gave Abby one last look, before pulling the large door open and stepping out into the summer heat.

Abby moved to the window and watched Kerry walk away until she could no longer see the redhead. At that point, she headed back up the stairs to finish getting ready.

Abby was just taking the last clean dish from the dishwasher after lunch when her cellphone, which was sitting on the kitchen counter, began vibrating against the hard granite. She naturally expected it to be Kerry, and her heart sank in tandem with the knotting of her stomach when she saw who it actually was.

"Hello?"

"Abby…" she hadn't forgotten his thick accent. "Hi."

Abby turned around and leaned against the counter. "Hi, Luka."

"How are you? How's Chicago?"

Abby wasn't sure how she should respond; be honest and brag about how damned happy you are? Or, forsake of his security, tell a little fib. She chose the latter. "I'm alright….it's a nice break, here. And Joe loves it."

Abby could almost hear her ex-husband wince at the mention of their son. "Does he?" He began. Abby was about to respond to the awkward, almost-unanswerable question when he spoke back up. "That's good, that's good."

Abby nodded to herself. "Is there something you need, Luka?" She didn't mean to sound rude, but she really didn't want to be conversing aimlessly with him.

"I just…I just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving for Croatia tomorrow…." He replied.

Kerry's eyebrows rose. She so badly wanted to call him out for running away, but that'd make her a hypocrite. Instead, she handled the situation in the same way Luka had when she told him she was going to Chicago. "Are you? For how long?"

The answer was vague and brusque. "A while."

A switch was flicked inside Abby at his tone; she wasn't a fan of him jerking around on her. "What should I tell Joe when he asks why he doesn't get to go?"

A frustrated sigh came from the other line. "I don't know, Abby…tell him whatever you want. Listen, I've got to go…" his words were quick.

Abby rolled her eyes and scoffed, probably a little louder than necessary. "Whatever, Luka. Bye." She flipped her phone shut and slammed it down on the countertop with such force she was surprised  
it the screen didn't crack. "Fuck you…" she muttered under her breath. She was just reloading the dishwasher with the few plates and cups leftover from lunch and breakfast when her phone rang again. She picked it up with haste and held it to her ear, forgoing a look at the caller ID.

"Yeah?" she asked, agitated.

"Abby?" It was Kerry; a concerned Kerry. "What's wrong?"

Abby shook her head. "Just Luka…he just called, that's all. Nothing big. What's up?"

Kerry hesitated, not sure if she should let go of Abby's obvious agitation so easily. She decided to, though, knowing that if Abby wanted to tell her, she would. "Just had a free moment and wanted to check in…what time are you dropping off the boys?"

Abby smiled. "They decided they wanted to meet up with a few friends beforehand, so I'm dropping them off at Sawyer's house after I pick up Caleb and…Jack, is it?"

"Josh." Kerry corrected. "At what time?"

Abby glanced at the digital clock on the stove. "Fifteen minutes."

Kerry smiled broadly. "I'm going to see if I can pull some strings, get the rest of the afternoon off…" she said.

Abby grinned. "Call me when you want me to pick you up."

Kerry agreed and the pair said their goodbyes and hung up their phones. The redhead, who had been sitting at the lone desk in the lounge, stood up and shoved her cell phone back into the pocket of her starched lab coat. She knew that, as long as her broken tib-fib made it up to ortho in no more pieces than he was in at the moment and as long as they weren't hit with any large traumas, she would be out the door in an hour without any problems.

Kerry pushed through the lounge doors and reentered her domain.

"So call your mom or I when you need to be picked up, okay?" She looked at Henry as the four boys climbed out of Kerry's silver Jetta. "No later than ten thirty, she said."

She caught a glimpse of Joe's eyes rolling but knew Henry knew better than to react that way. At least to her. "No problem….thanks, Abby." He said, shutting the passenger door.

The two other boys, identical twins with bleach blonde hair, sharp blue eyes and faces full of freckles, gave their friend's mother a smile and a small wave while Joe gave a full wave. "Bye, mom."

Abby gave all four boys a smile and was just about to pull out when a man's head peaked out of the doorway of the house. He held out a finger, signaling her to wait, and took a few leap-like steps across the lawn until he was standing at her car window.

He was tall, probably pushing six feet, and slender; He looked more like a cycler or runner than football or basketball player. He wore pressed, dark wash jeans and a close fitting, pink and white pin-striped blouse with the sleeves rolled up a quarter of the way up his arm. Abby decided Sawyer must look a whole lot like her mother, because this man's tan skin and dark hair bore no resemblance to his daughter's paler tones.

The man crouched down at Abby's window and stuck out his hand. "Hi, I'm Jason Crawford, Sawyer's dad."

Abby smiled and met his hand with her own, shaking firmly. "Abby Lockhart..."

Jason nodded slowly, a slight look of confusion on his face. "You're Henry's mom's…friend…?" He questioned slowly, unsure of what he should consider this Abby woman.

Abby nodded. "We worked together for years and years…about eight years, I guess. She's one of my best friends…" She made herself stop talking for fear of expelling the secret details of their relationship.

Jason let out a small breath. "I wasn't sure if you and she were, well, you know…" he raised a suggestive eyebrow before enunciating the next word, "together."

Abby felt a blush creep up her neck. "Oh, uh…yeah…uh…"

Jason shook his head and placed a hand on Abby's forearm. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry; that was an awkward presumption…." Abby let out a little sigh of relief. "Anyway, all of the other kids should be arriving within a few minutes, then Will and I will bring them down to the pier around four…"

Abby raised an eyebrow. "Will?" She didn't think this man looked old enough to father a child who was older than Sawyer and Henry, but couldn't be sure if Will was an older sibling or step-sibling or something of the sort.

Jason nodded. "My husband, Sawyer's other dad."

Abby wasn't sure what was more surprising: the fact that she hadn't, what with this man's impeccable style and obvious hygiene, realized he was gay earlier, or the fact that Kerry hadn't told her. She settled on crowning the first as more of a shock; after all, it was possible Kerry didn't know, either. "Right, right…." She covered quickly. "So should Kerry or I pick the boys up here, or at the pier?"

"We'll bring them all back here around ten." He responded in a friendly tone.

Abby smiled. "Alright…then either Kerry or I will see you later." She said.

Jason nodded and took a step back from the Jetta. "Have a good day, Abby." He said, stepping backwards again.

Abby smiled, nodded, and started the car. With one last look at the small, quaint house she was parked in front of, she took off.

"Hey, Archie…" Kerry called to the younger attending, "you sure you can take lead for the rest of the shift?"

Morris waved dismissively towards Kerry and rolled his eyes. "We'll be fine, Kerry…you won't get any better if you stay around this place."

A small shock of guilt went through Kerry but she quickly pushed it down; she wasn't sick, but there wasn't much to do at work, anyway. And, with two senior attendings and the best residents on the floor, she knew they would be more than fine without her. She blinked a drawn out blink and nodded slowly. "Alright…" she said, "Then I'll see you guys on Monday."

Archie nodded. "Say hi to Abby for me." He added.

Kerry spun around. "What?" She demanded, her tone probably a little more accusatory than necessary.

Archie didn't look up from the chart he held in his hands. "You know, Lockhart…she's been staying with you for the past couple weeks. About this tall," he held his hand at about chin level, "brown hair, brown eyes, kind of a smartass…"

"Right, right…sorry." She covered, "Sure, yeah."

Morris looked up from the yellow paper in front of him and gave Kerry a strange look. "You must be sick."

Kerry rolled her eyes. "See you later, Archie."

Abby, who was parked a half a block away from the ambulance bay, jumped and gasped when the passenger door opened. "Jesus, Kerry." She said, her hand over her heart and eyes wide.

Kerry smirked and closed the door behind her. "Sorry." She leaned in for a quick kiss.

Abby smiled, even when Kerry pulled away, and put her seatbelt back on. "How'd you get out of work?"

Kerry pulled at her own seatbelt. "Told Archie I wasn't feeling well."

Abby was just about to put the car into drive when she heard Kerry's words. Her jaw dropped slightly and she turned slowly to face her girlfriend. "You, Kerry Weaver, pretended to be sick to get off work?" She shook her head in disbelief. "I'm ashamed."

Kerry snorted a laugh and gave Abby a whack on the shoulder. "If you're complaining I can get out of this car and go right back to work…" she teased.

Abby smiled and began to drive back towards Kerry's home. They made it for about two or three minutes in silence before Abby spoke up. "Hey!" she exclaimed, "You never told me Sawyer has two dads!"

Kerry's eyebrows furrowed. "She what?"

Abby nodded. "Yeah, when I dropped the boys off her dad, well one of her dads, came out…Jason Crawford, he said his name was. His husband's name is Will."

Kerry had an impressed look on her face. "Well, I like Sawyer's family just a bit more already." She said. Abby smiled with her eyes set on the road. After a moment, Kerry spoke back up. "What're we going to do about the boys?"

Abby glanced at Kerry quickly. "We need to tell them soon." Kerry nodded in agreement before Abby spoke again. "And you need to learn how to stay quiet."

That earned another playful glare. "Honestly, Abby…should we tell them at the same time? Together? Or should I tell Henry and you Joe?"

Abby tousled her hair with her free hand. "I don't know…together, I think."

Kerry nodded. "I think so, too."

They continued to converse about the matter at hand until they reached both Kerry's street and a final plan; they were going to tell their sons tomorrow. They weren't sure when, and they weren't sure how, but by the coming night, Henry and Joe would finally know the truth about what was going on.

It was nearly four o'clock in the afternoon when Kerry and Abby set foot back in Kerry's house. Kerry dropped her bag at the door and left her cell phone and beeper in the dish by the door. Abby did the same, leaving the keys to the Jetta and her cell phone there as well. "Do you want lunch?" Kerry asked, heading for the kitchen.

Abby shook her head and grabbed Kerry's wrist. "No lunch." She said, pulling the older woman back towards her. "Just you."

A wicked smiled found its way to Kerry's mouth as she was pulled into Abby's embrace. Her grin was smothered by soft lips and, soon, they found themselves moving blindly towards the couch, fingers knotted in hair and tongues searching mouths. They landed on the brown leather softly, Abby prone over Kerry's body. Kerry pushed up against Abby until, after little struggle, they were both sitting upright, mouths still locked. Abby pulled away long enough to take a breath. Given the chance, Kerry latched onto a spot on Abby's neck instead. She hadn't intended to leave a mark, but when she heard the front door opening, she jumped, her teeth digging in. Abby hadn't heard the door, but jerked to stop when Kerry bit. "Ow, Ker-"

"Oh god…"

Abby's head whipped towards the door. Henry, with his jaw very nearly hitting the ground, stood there with his eyes trained on the pair of them.

Kerry was frozen, her eyes locked on her son and her hands on Abby's shoulders. Her current position registered in her mind and she dropped her hands. "Henry…we…"

Henry blinked hard. "I'm…I forgot my phone…uh…" he glanced at the table both Kerry and Abby had discarded their phones on and picked up his own. "Here it is…" he said, his eyes on the ground. "I'm just gonna'…." He said, gesturing towards the door with his head.

Kerry shook her head and forced composure upon herself. "Henry, wait." She said, pulling away from Abby and standing. "We were going to tell you and Joe…we were going to tell you tonight, but then you made plans to go to the pier, so we decided we'd tell the pair of you tomorrow…"

Henry's head rose but he remained silent.

Kerry ran a hand through her hair. "I know it's a…a shock, but-"

Henry cut his mother off. "I won't tell Joe."

Kerry nodded. "Just until tomorrow." She reassured. Henry nodded and put his hand back on the doorknob, readying to exit the house. Just as he pulled the door open, Kerry spoke. "I'm sorry we didn't, couldn't tell you earlier…" she said.

Henry only nodded, took a quick look at Abby, and exited the house.


	6. Chapter 6

Kerry walked back and forth, pacing in front of the kitchen island. Her arms were crossed tightly around her chest and she was obviously uncomfortable. Abby hated seeing her best friend, her girlfriend like this, but couldn't do anything as her own stomach felt as if it was about to come up through her esophagus. So instead, she remained where she was on the kitchen counter, opposite of the two boys who were seated at the breakfast bar.

It was the afternoon after Henry walked in on Kerry and Abby, for lack of better phrase, getting it on, and, as promised, the two women had sat their sons down to discuss what had been covered up for so many weeks.

Kerry's pacing came to a halt and she stood in the middle of the kitchen, half of her facing Abby and half of her facing the two boys. She ran a distressed hand through her hair and swallowed hard. "Alright…" she began, "we," she motioned to Abby and herself, "have something that we've been keeping from the two of you."

Abby nodded and picked up where Kerry left off. "We've been planning on telling you for a long time, now, but each time we were going to, something came up…and so the secret has escalated to a point where…where we just can't hide it anymore."

Kerry looked at Abby as she spoke then, when the brunette finished, she glanced at the boys; Joe wore the most confused, concerned look she'd ever seen on his face wile Henry just sat there, his head cradled in his left hand, his eyes focused on the granite countertop in front of him, and his right hand clenched in a tight fist. She sighed. "And, unfortunately…well, you have to understand, Joe, that we were planning on telling the two of you at the same time…but, uh…"

Suddenly there was a sound of flesh hitting a hard surface as Henry pounded his right hand angrily against the countertop. "Damnit, mom, if you aren't going to come out with it, I will!" he shouted, glaring at Kerry with angry eyes before he turned to face Joe. "I walked in on my mom making out with your mom yesterday. They've been in this secret relationship, apparently, and haven't had the common courtesy to tell either of us!"

The tension was thick and the silence was deafening. Joe's mouth had very nearly hit his lap and his brown eyes were wide. He stared at a still-fuming Henry before turning to look past Kerry at his mom, whose had was hanging low. "Is...what is…" he shook his head, unsure of where to begin; firstly, his mom wasn't, last he knew, gay…secondly, they were best friends, just best friends….and finally, what about his dad? Abby pulled her head up, meeting her son's eyes with her own. Joe took a deep breath. "He's not lying, is he?"

Brown waves fell as Abby shook her head.

Joe nodded slowly; he had so many questions for his mother, none of which, however, he felt wouldn't be rude to ask in front of Kerry. He glanced at his mother again, pleading silently, before he mustered up the courage to speak. "Do you think we could, uh…" he tried again, "Can we-" he gestured to the back door. "Outside?"

Abby knew what he was asking, suggesting, and nodded in agreement, hopping down from her perch on the counter. Joe followed suit, climbing down from the barstool and heading straight for the sliding door.

Now alone, Kerry leaned against the counter Abby had been occupying. Henry was back to looking at some unseen, nonexistent pattern on the countertop. The silence had to be broken before it completely overcame the two of them. "Are you mad at me, or are you made about Abby and I?"

Henry didn't look up and he mumbled his response. "At you."

Kerry nodded and winced; that's what she had assumed, but his saying it made it real, made it hurt. "Because I kept it from you?"

Henry nodded stiffly.

"What else are you upset about?"

Henry looked up slowly. "Abby's not gay, mom…she just got a divorce."

Abby ran a hand through her hair. How was she supposed to answer her sons question when she didn't know the answer, herself? No, she wasn't gay, but she loved Kerry, who just happened to be a woman. In high school she had considered herself bisexual after experimenting with a handful of classmate, both male and female alike, and her open mindedness had carried over to the few relationships she'd had with women in her adult life, but since Luka she had hardly ever thought about her sexuality in terms of being anything but straight. Not until Kerry, of course. "No, I'm not gay…I've loved both men and women, but I don't think falling in love with someone can be based upon their gender, you know?" She tried explaining.

Joe's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and Abby tried again. "You know how Kerry's gay?" she asked.

Joe nodded.

Abby wrung her hands together but kept on. "That means that she's only really attracted to women, right?" she asked rhetorically. "And you know…" she searched for an example of a straight woman who Joe knew well, "you know your Aunt Grazyna?" She settled on using Luka's sister-in-law as an example. "Well, she's straight…she's only attracted to men."

Again, Joe nodded.

"Now, if you take a little bit of Kerry, how she like women, and you take a little bit of Grazyna, how she likes men, and you combine them, you get what I am…" she explained.

Joe quirked an eyebrow. "So you're, like, bi?" he asked cautiously.

Abby tilted her head left and right in a kind of 'so-so' motion, before nodding shortly. "I suppose so, yes."

Joe nodded slowly once more before turning his head and staring out at the backyard in silence. Abby did the same and, after a few moments of silence, Joe spoke up. "Does she make you happy?" He  
asked.

Abby turned her head in her hands so the side of her face was where her chin had been. She met her sons eyes and nodded, not offering any words.

Joe gave a small, content smile. "Then that's all that matters…you deserve to be happy."

Amazed by her son's maturity and wisdom, Abby took her left arm and wrapped it around him, pulling him into a one-sided hug and adding a kiss to the crown of his head.

"Wait…did you turn Abby gay?" Henry asked, his voice tainted with some sort of disgust.

Kerry pinned her son with a stern glare. "Henry Gonzalo, you know better…people do not 'turn' gay or straight or anything, for that matter." She said, insinuating with her tone that he was sounding very much like one of his great aunts or uncles. "And no, Abby is what she is…that has nothing to do with me."

Henry leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms; his mom was right: he did know better. She had told him, when he'd first become curious about her sexuality, that, before the woman she'd met before his Mama, Kerry had always considered herself to be as straight as a pencil. She had explained to him, when his older neighbor and childhood crush, Caitlin, went to prom with her girlfriend crushing his little, twelve year old heart in the process, that people came out at all ages, and that, for some people, it took decades to realize that they weren't straight while others knew from the time they could differentiate between male and female. She had raised him to have an open, accepting mind and he suddenly felt rather ashamed for pulling that on her.

Henry scratched his head, ruffling his messy hair as he did so. "Are they moving back to Chicago?" He asked.

Kerry let out a tiny sigh of relief at the turn in conversation and change of tone. She shrugged. "I don't think Abby has made any decisions, yet…" she answered truthfully.

Henry nodded in understanding. His face told Kerry he was still uncomfortable, but the anger had been washed away, and that was a step in a positive direction.

As if she'd known she was being talked about, Abby slid open the glass door that led to the back door and stepped through the threshold, Joe on her heels. Judging from their faces, their conversation had gone better than Kerry and Henry's was.

Abby saw the looks on both their faces and slowed down in her tracks. "Do you guys still need a few minutes…" she began to ask.

Henry was quick to respond, jumping down from his seat and shaking his head. "Nope…" he said, "I'm gonna' go shower."

Kerry watched him go then turned back to Abby. "Guess not." She said.

The three stood in a shortlived, albeit awkward silence until Kerry spoke again. "So…how are you, uh, feeling?" she asked Joe, judging from his easy look that he was at least a little alright with the situation.

Joe rocked back on his sneakered heels and shrugged. "It's cool, I guess…" he replied. "A little weird, but cool."

Kerry and Abby glanced at each other, both smiling slightly. "How'd Henry take it?" Abby asked.

Kerry rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Not as well." She replied. "I don't know why, but he just isn't comfortable with the whole thing. At least not yet."

Abby shrugged. "Maybe it'll just take time." She offered.

Joe looked down at his feet. "Or maybe if I talk to him…" he began suggestively.

Kerry gave the twelve year old a smile for his thoughtfulness and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I think that's a wonderful idea, Joe."

Joe gave a half nod and grinned slightly. He rocked back on his heels once more and gestured towards the living room. "Can I go, uh, watch the game now?" he asked his mother.

Abby nodded and shooed him away with her hands. "Go on…"

Joe thanked her, smiled at Kerry, and stalked off to the living room.

When only the two women remained, Kerry let out the deepest, longest breath and leaned back against the counter, forehead cradled in her hand. Abby walked over to her, pushing Kerry's hand away from her face and cupping in her own hands. She pushed strands of hair away from her eyes. "At least there are no more secrets." She smiled.

Kerry gave a weak smile and cupped Abby's face in return. "No more secrets." She agreed.

Their lips met in a soft kiss.

Abby traced the exposed skin of Kerry's arm as she held her delicate fingers in her own. "You do think he'll come around, right?"

Kerry nodded confidently. "He's always a little stubborn when it comes to me…um, me dating." She explained. "I think he still resents Courtney leaving a little bit."

"I'm not going to leave you…" Abby murmured softly.

Kerry smiled. "I know…" she began. "But that brings up another point….are you and Joe going to leave Boston? Live in Chicago?" She asked, not mentioning exactly where Abby and Joe would live if they did move back.

Abby nodded quickly. She'd thought about it constantly, the idea always in the back of her mind; would she and Joe move in with Kerry and Henry? Would they keep private rooms for a while? How long? A couple months or a year? Would they even really work out? All these questions were nagging at her, and, apparently, the time had come to start addressing some of them.

Kerry spoke again. "So…what about Mass Gen? Your job, Abby?"

Abby ran a hand through her hair. "You know I don't like it there; I've told you before. I'd go back to County, if I could…or Sinai or Northwestern. Anywhere around here."

"And Joe?" Kerry lowered her voice. "How's he going to take it? Moving from the home he's lived in for the past nine, ten years? And away from Luka?"

Abby shut her eyes for a long moment, processing each question and forming a set of adequate answers. "It'll be hard…but it'll be better for him, I think. Better for us. And Luka…" she made a disgusted face and shook her head. "He called me yesterday. Told me he was going to Croatia. Wouldn't tell me why, or for how long." She snorted. "Asshole…"

Kerry frowned. "What are you going to tell Joe?"

A shake of a head and a shrug. "I have no idea…but I'll figure something out." Abby shook her head, clearing her mind. "One thing, though…" she began, "What about, um…you know, living arrangements?"

Kerry stiffened the tiniest bit. Her change in demeanor was almost unnoticeable, but Abby sensed it. "I don't know if…" she began, hesitating "I don't want to U-Haul." She said simply.

Abby's eyes widened in question. "U-Haul?"

Kerry nodded. "A joke: what does a lesbian bring to a second date? A U-Haul. You know, the urge to merge…" she explained quickly. "I just don't think we should merge quite yet…"

A small shock of disappointment coursed through Abby but she nodded in agreement. "So, look for a job, find an apartment…." She sighed, "This is going to take a while."

Kerry cupped Abby's cheek. "Yeah, but it'll be worth it."

Abby nodded in agreement before she found Kerry's lips with her own in another kiss. "Worth it." she reiterated, her voice soft, almost dreamy.

* * *

Sorry for such a long wait...life got in the way and muses just would not cooperate. This story is coming to a close (finally?); I'm writing the next chapter and, with any luck, that'll be it. Thanks so much to all my loyal readers and reviewers...you guys make this hobby so much more enjoyable!


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you guys so, so much for reading this story! For a while, I was kind of treading water without any updates, but now is a good time, I think, to bring it to a close. I realize it's short, but I hope you're able to look past the lack of length and enjoy it. Please, review as well...it's the best feeling when your stories get reviews as I'm sure many of you know! Also, I'd just like to mention that my other story,_ And Baby Makes Four_, is still in progress...I haven't quite given up on it yet! Thanks for being so loyal! **

* * *

"Abby?" Kerry called out from the foyer of Abby's quaint, condo-like apartment. She had been given instruction to arrive at noon and, when she had checked her watch as she pulled into the driveway, it was two past. "Abigail…" she called out, her voice sing-song-y.

There was a pattering of socked feet against hardwood as Abby came jogging down the hall. She was wearing jeans and a black, long sleeved shirt, though the sleeves were pushed up to her elbows. Her recently cut hair fell just to her shoulders and she pushed it away from her eyes. "Hi, sorry…" she apologized, giving Kerry a quick peck on the lips. "I was just finishing up some chart reviews…" she explained to her girlfriend as she slid her feet into her sneakers and pulled her coat over her shoulders.

Kerry smiled and nodded, glad to hear that Abby was handling her new role as head of the emergency department over at Northwestern well. It had been a hard adjustment, she knew, but over the past three months Abby had slid right into a nice groove.

"Joe?" Abby called her son's name into the general vicinity of his bedroom. "If you're coming to the game you best be out here in 2.5 or else we're leaving without you!" It was an empty threat; a joke more than anything.

Another set of footsteps, though these ones a different rhythm than Abby's, could be heard and Joe appeared from the depths of the apartment. "Jeesh, mom, give me a break…" he said, moving towards them with a smile.

Kerry chuckled and nodded her chin upwards in a sort of 'hello' nod. "Hey, kiddo. How's the knee?"

Joe wore a genuine smile. "Good…" he assured, taking his two aluminum crutches in his left hand and grabbing a Latin of Chicago sweatshirt from the tree nearby with his right. He balanced precariously with most of his wait on his healthy, left leg while he pulled it over his head and both Kerry and Abby watched him with furrowed eyebrows. When he finally had it on, he looked up at the pair of them with an amused smile. "What?"

Abby shook her head. "Never mind…" she said, putting her hand on the door and looking at Kerry then Joe. "Ready?"

They both nodded and she led the way to her own car, sliding in the driver's seat while Kerry took the passenger side and Joe occupied the back.

The ride the school's field was quick, only fifteen minutes from Abby and Joe's apartment, and as soon as they arrived they saw a deep sea of orange and navy, the colors of Latin, and maroon and yellow, the colors of their arch rival Morgan Park Academy. It was an ugly array of colors, Abby couldn't help thinking as she snagged a parking spot near the soccer field.

"I'm going to go find Katherine and Austin." Joe said once he was out of the car.

Abby nodded. "Keep your phone on!" she called out as her son crutched away.

He didn't acknowledge her request and Abby huffed, rolling her eyes.

Kerry didn't bother to secrete a chuckle as they walked towards the soccer field where Henry's game was bound to start. They stood a few feet away from the sidelines, in line with the other parents and spectators but chose to stay more towards one goal as opposed to right around the midline, forsake of separating themselves from the louder, more intense soccer moms and dads who, if a referee missed a foul or made a 'bad call', would be the ones to start a riot.

"Have you talked to Luka?" Kerry asked at half time while the two teams were off the field.

Abby shook her head, pushing a short lock of hair behind her ear. "I called to tell him about Joe's surgery, and he called back when he got out of the hospital to check in, but that's been it." she rocked back on her heels, stuffing her fists deeper into her pockets. "And that was how long ago? A month?" Another shake of a head, this one more from dismay than anything. "It makes me think these past eleven years were all a joke. We weren't a family, I guess; just a sorry attempt at one."

Kerry sighed and gave Abby's forearm a quick squeeze. "People change." Kerry knew that it had been an uphill battle between Abby and Luka since Abby had informed him that she and Joe would be moving back to Chicago back in late July. She hated the man Luka had become; he was angry, closed off, and belligerent: not the soft, passive man she had first hired back in the 90's. Looking back, however, she realized that Luka had truly been on a downward spiral since long before the divorce. The move, however, was likely what forced him over the edge.

The couple stood in silence for a while, each pondering their own thoughts, until Abby felt a hand on her shoulder and heard a voice in her ear. "Abby! Kerry!"

The two woman turned and instantly wore smiles on their faces. "Will, Jason." Kerry greeted smiling at her son's girlfriend's fathers who had also become two of her and Abby's very good friends.

The four engaged in conversation while they watched the second half of Henry's team's soccer game. By the end of the 80 minute game, the Latin walked off the field, though on tired legs, with a 1-0 win over their rivals. When the cheering and celebrating had finally settled down, Henry ambled over to where Abby, Kerry, Will, Jason, and now Joe and Sawyer, were standing. When he was only a few feet away, Kerry could make out a trail of blood trickling down his leg from a small gash that was above his knee. She cringed but looked past it.

"Nice game, dude." Joe said enthusiastically, eliciting a flood of other 'congratulations' and 'good games' from the rest of their friends and family.

When Jason finished it up with 'I didn't understand a minute of it, but I guess you did a good job; so good job!', which sent smiles to everyone's faces, Kerry spoke up again. "Is the team going out, or…?"

Henry shook his head. "Coach is taking us all out for dinner next weekend. Why? Are you offering?" He asked suggestively, making his eyebrows jump up and down.

Kerry rolled her eyes and smiled. "Yes, I'm offering." She looked up at Abby and Joe, and Will, Jason and Sawyer. "You guys in?"

Abby laughed. "Well, I drove, so yeah."

Will and Jason looked at each other but Sawyer was quicker. "Most definitely!"

An hour and a half later, Kerry, Abby, Henry, Joe, Jason, Will and Sawyer were all seated around a round table at Giordano's, the pizza place the majority of North side residents considered the best. After waiting for what seemed to be forever, they were finally seated and were talking away happily, Jason seated in between Henry, who had Sawyer and Joe to his left, and Will, who had Kerry and Abby to his right. When the waitress, a woman who looked to be in her late sixties, came over, she gave a thoughtful, almost adoring smile at the group. Particularly Henry and Jason. "Well, don't you look just like dad!" She exclaimed looking at Henry before she pulled her notepad out of her apron pocket.

Henry and Jason looked at each other, brows furrowed. "Uh…um…" Henry tilted his head to the side. "Thanks?"

Completely oblivious to her amused customers, the waitress snapped her gum, smiled, and nodded. "So, what'll it be?"

They all rattled off their orders and, when the waitress walked away, cracked up. It was funny, definitely, but Henry couldn't help realize that the only two at the table who were biologically related were Abby and Joe; Sawyer had been adopted from Russia by her two fathers at only eight months old, while he had been born to his other mom, Sandy. It was interesting and diverse. He loved it.

"Henry?" Someone speaking his name and snapping their fingers brought him out of his musing.

He refocused his eyes and ears and settled both senses on Sawyer. "Hm? Sorry…zoning."

Sawyer gave her boyfriend a soft smile. "It's okay…I was just asking what you were thinking about."

Henry smiled and laced his hand through hers. "Just us." He said. "All of us…we're kinda' like a family, you know? I mean, your dads and you, my mom and I, Abby and Joe…then you and me, your dads again and Abby and my mom. It's kind of like all of our families formed a new family, you know?"

Sawyer chuckled easily and leaned in, placing a soft kiss on Henry's still-tan cheek. "You must be tired…you're getting all deep on me." She teased.

Henry rolled his eyes and laughed, his hand still linked with hers. It was true, though, he mused, three different families- his', Joe's and Sawyer's, had intertwined and woven webs to connect. It was, honestly, like their three old families at formed a new one. Unconventional and not actually related, yes, but it felt like family to him.


End file.
